Smith reaches USGA
Mid-Am final
October 08, 2009
Jeff Rivard, Executive Director (contact)
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Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, defeated Bob Gerwin, Cincinnati,
one-up, in the semi-finals during the USGA Mid-Amateur
Championship at the Kiawah Island Club, South Carolina, to
reach the final for the second time. He won the 2003
Championship at Wilmington CC, Delaware, defeating Bryan
Norton, Kansas City, after Norton withdrew during the ninth
hole of the first round after sustaining a leg injury.
The other Western Pennsylvania golfer who reached the USGA
Mid-Amateur final was Rick Stimmel, Wexford, in 1997, at
Dallas Athletic Club. Smith and Stimmel share something in
common as each championship was delayed for one day due to
heavy rains. Stimmel had to wait a day for his final match
with rains postponing Thursday's final, while Smith
experienced the same thing on Monday after stroke play
rounds were completed but before any matches were played.
Ken Bakst, New York, beat Stimmel one-up with a birdie on
the final hole, in an eighteen hole final. Smith beat Gerwin
with a winning par on the final hole in the semi-finals
after the two had halved eight straight holes with pars.
Gerwin had rallied from two down to catch Smith at the turn.
The 1997 Bakst-Stimmel match was eighteen holes. Nathan
Smith and Tim Spitz, Rochester, New York, are scheduled for
36-holes, as the final was changed from one round to two in
2001. Spitz defeated West Virginia standout, Pat
Carter, Huntingdon, 3&2, in the other semi-final match,
earning the slot against Smith.
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