ATLANTA – Guilford College golf coach Justin Tereshko’s run at the United States Golf Association’s Mid-Amateur Championships ended Tuesday with a 2 and 1 loss to fifth-seeded Corby Segal in the event’s first round of match play.
Tereshko’s day started early in a nerve-wracking playoff among 25 contestants playing for 16 spots in the tournament’s round of 64. The playoff started on the par-four 17th hole of the Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course. Tereshko made a four and remained in the hunt among 14 competitors playing for 13 spots. He qualified with a one-over five on the par-four 16th hole.
Tereshko finished the first two weather-delayed rounds of stroke play on Capital City and the Atlanta National Club with a five-over 73-73-146.
Segal was one of four golfers to shoot 138 (-3) in stroke play. Tereshko won the first hole on Crabapple with a birdie three, but Segal bounced back to win the second hole with an even-par four. A Segal birdie on seven gave the Californian a one-up advantage, which he doubled two holes later when Tereshko bogeyed the ninth hole. The Quakers’ coach got back to within one with a win on number 10, but a Segal birdie on the 215-yard, par-three 15th hole restored a two-stroke edge. Both players parred the next two layouts, which halted the contest after 17 holes.
Tereshko was exempted into the 264-man US Mid-Amateur field by virtue of an outstanding summer that included winning the 2017 North Carolina Amateur Championship and reaching the match play round of the U.S. Amateur.