2016 Yearbook

58 / 126

U.S. AMATEUR FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Most all golfers in Iowa knew that
when Jon Olson and Jon Brown
teamed up to try and qualify for the
U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, they would
be tough to beat. That held true
as the duo was one of two sides to
qualify at Glen Oaks Country Club in
West Des Moines in September of
2015 for the championship proper to
be held in May of 2016.
Brown (Clive) and Olson (Ankeny)
combined for nine birdies en route
to their 8-under 63 during qualifying.
That gave them medalist honors by
one stroke over Michael Christensen
of Grand Rapids, MN and Brad Clark
of Chapel Hill, NC. Christensen and
Clark carded seven birdies with no
bogeys.
The two sides then moved on to the
national championship at Winged
Foot Golf Club in New York in May.
Brown and Olson fared quite well,
shooting 70-66 to finish stroke
play in a tie for 22nd and earn the
#28 seed in the match play draw.
Christensen and Clark played well
too, but their scores of 67-73 left
them three shots out of a playoff for
the final spot in the 32-team match
play draw.
The Iowa duo was unable to make
it past the first round of match play,
however.
They got off to a slow start against
Dylan Wu and Andrew Whalen
(teammates at Northwestern and
both from the Pacific Northwest),
1 Jon Brown/ Jon Olson 63
2 Michael Christensen/Brad Clark 64
Alt. Pete Godwin/Jacob Godwin 66
Alt. Gene Elliott/Michael McCoy 66
Gregory Stanek/Jose Vega 67
Blake Brorman/Karsten Majors 67
Rob Dunn/Mike Tapper
FAILED TO QUALIFY
Name (Par 71) Total
U.S. Four-Ball Quali er
Glen Oaks Country Club, West Des Moines, IA
September 28, 2015
May 2-6, 2016
falling four down through four
holes and ultimately five down
through ten holes. Brown and Olson
mounted a bit of a charge, winning
the 11th and 12th holes with birdies
and then capturing a win with a par
at 13. That left them at 2 down with
five to play. Unfortunately they
would lose the 14th hole when they
made a bogey then a birdie by their
opponents at 15 ended the match, 4
and 3.
The Iowa side admitted to having
plenty of fun while teaming up for
this competition.
“I really think we
have more fun
than any other
team out there,”
Olson said. “Jon’s
a great partner
and just a fun guy
to be around. Plus
we both hit our
clubs about the
same distance so it
makes it easy from
that standpoint.”
Olson/Brown team up, make match play at 2nd U.S. Amateur Four-ball
Championship
Jon Olson (R) and Jon Brown (L) qualified for the U.S.
Amateur Four-Ball at Glen Oaks CC in September 2015.
The championship was held in May 2016.
Brown and Olson will get to have
more fun as they will be back
at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
Championship. The teammates
qualified in September of 2016 for
the championship to be played in
May, 2017 at Pinehurst #2 in North
Carolina. Qualifying for the 2017
championship will continue into
the spring but, as of now, Brown
and Olson are the only Iowans who
have made it through to Pinehurst.