2 local ‘underdog’ teams — Hunter Swanson/Max Lange and Drew Stoltz/Drew Kittleson — cruise to victories in round of 32 at U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
By Gary Baines – 5/22/2023
The two local teams that advanced to match play at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball were the lower seeds in their round-of-32 matchups on Monday, but you would have never known it based on the results.
Hunter Swanson of Denver and Max Lange of Golden, seeded 28th, soundly defeated fifth-seeded Chip Brooke and Marc Dull, both Floridians, 5 and 3 at Kiawah Island, S.C. Brooke and Dull had finished five strokes better, best ball, than the Coloradans in the stroke-play portion of the championship.
And former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz and partner Drew Kittleson, now both Scottsdale, Ariz., residents, are seeded 22nd. On Monday, they beat 11th-seeded William Peel IV and Colin St. Maxens, also by a 5-and-3 margin, after Peel and Maxens were two strokes better in stroke play than Stoltz and Kittleson.
The bottom line is that the Swanson/Lange and Stoltz/Kittleson teams punched their tickets to Tuesday’s round of 16.
Swanson, a freshman who’s part of the first University of Colorado men’s golf team since 2002 to advance to the NCAA national championships, and Lange, who just wrapped up his freshman season at the Colorado School of Mines, never trailed in their round-of-32 match on Monday. The Coloradans were 8 under par, best ball, through 15 holes, and were 4 up through eight holes.
Meanwhile, the Drew Crew also never trailed, but they didn’t pull away until the eighth hole on. In the last eight holes, Stoltz and Kittleson, the Four-Ball runners-up last year, went 5 under par.
In addition to the round of 16, the quarterfinals will be played on Tuesday, with both the semifinals and final set for Wednesday.
Results of teams with strong Colorado connections at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in Kiawah Island, S.C.:
MATCH PLAY
Round of 32 (Monday)
Hunter Swanson, Denver, and Max Lange, Golden, def. Chip Brooke and Marc Dull, 5 and 3
Former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz and Drew Kittleson, Scottsdale, Ariz., def. William Peel IV and Colin St. Maxens, 5 and 3
STROKE PLAY (Saturday and Sunday)
Advanced to Match Play
22. Former Coloradan Drew Stoltz/Drew Kittleson 67-65—132
27. Hunter Swanson, Denver/Maxwell Lange, Golden 65-68–133
Failed to Advance to Match Play
57. Michael Harrington, CO Springs/Dylan Wonnacott, Loveland 66-71–137
57. Brendan Connolly, Centennial/Benjamin Dubois, Denver 72-65–137
For all the results from Kiawah Island, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com