Notre Dame finishes 18th at 48-over par 912 in the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational this weekend in Statesboro, Ga.

Eddie Peckels Advances To Semifinals At North And South Amateur Championship

Aug. 5, 2005

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the third time in two days, University of Notre Dame rising sophomore Eddie Peckels (Pinehurst, N.C./Pope John Paul II (Fla.) HS) came from behind to win a match at the 105th North and South Amateur Championship, defeating third-seeded Dane Burkhart, the reigning NCAA Division II medalist from South Carolina-Aiken, on the second extra hole (20th hole) in Friday’s quarterfinals at Pinehurst, N.C. Peckels, the 59th seed in the 64-man match play bracket, knocked off a top-11 seed for the third time in his four matches thus far and booked a spot in Saturday’s semifinals, where he will play 23rd-seeded Sean Moore of Wake Forest at 8:10 a.m. EDT (7:10 a.m. EST/CDT in South Bend) on the famed Pinehurst No. 2 course that recently played host to the U.S. Open.

Moore was the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference medalist and, like Peckels, reached the semifinals with a 20th-hole victory over No. 2 seed Jake Grodzinsky of Duke (the medalist from the 36-hole stroke play qualifier earlier this week). The other semifinal match on Saturday will feature the two remaining top-10 seeds in the field — No. 4 Ryan Posey, a junior-to-be at Oklahoma State, and ninth-seeded Kyle Reifers, a rising senior at Wake Forest. The semifinal winners will return to the links Sunday for a 36-hole championship match started at 7:30 a.m. EDT (6:30 a.m. EST/CDT in South Bend).

As was the case with both his second- and third-round matches on Thursday, Peckels found himself trailing at the turn, going 1-down to Burkhart through nine holes. However, Peckels steadied himself and won the 10th and 12th holes to reverse course and take a 1-up lead. Then, it was Burkhart’s turn to respond, as he won at holes No. 13 and No. 15 to once again build a one-hole edge. That margin lasted only until the following green, when Peckels birdied the par-five 16th to once again draw even.

The pair would remain deadlocked through the regulation 18 holes, sending Peckels into sudden death for the second time in his last three matches at the North and South Amateur. On the second extra hole, Peckels pulled off a clever up-and-down from the back right edge of the green to put the pressure squarely in Burkhart’s corner. The veteran couldn’t respond, as his five-foot par putt lipped out to give Peckels the victory.

— ND —