Conner Peck (right) , of Ankeny, had a lot on his mind during the week.

With the help of support from his family and solid ball striking most of the week, Peck came out on top at the 32nd IGA Match Play Championship at Talons of Tuscany Golf Club in Ankeny. Peck defeated fellow Ankeny resident Andrew Huseman in the final match going away, 5&4.

“In match play you’re not playing against the whole field,” Peck said. “It’s a hole-by-hole deal. If you have one bad hole, it’s not the end of the world. It was a grind, but it was a lot of fun. I hit the ball really well (all week). This week was awesome.”

But before his afternoon match against Huseman, Peck, a 2012 Herman Sani Scholar, battled Tripp Kinney, of Des Moines, in a back and forth match for the ages. Peck, who won 1 up, had nothing but great things to say about Kinney.

“Tripp is a great player,” Peck said. “That was a fun match. If you are playing well, it’s nice to play a lot of golf quickly. My putter got better as the week went on.”

Huseman, who defeated J.D. Anderson, of Johnston, in the other semifinal match on Thursday morning, 1 up, simply could not keep up with Peck’s birdie (and eagle) barrage. Peck was -7 in the 14 holes he played, including back to back eagles on the 10th and 11th holes. A final birdie on the 14th hole was good enough for the win in what has been a whirlwind month, filled with mixed emotions, for Peck.

“This past month I moved back from Dallas to be closer to my family (following the loss of my brother),” Peck said. “To feel some happiness this week and to have a lot of family here is really important.”

Click here to view Peck’s post-round interview

Click here to review the complete 32nd IGA Match Play Championship bracket

Four players remain after the third day of action at the 32nd IGA Match Play Championship at Talons of Tuscany Golf Club in Ankeny.

In the George Turner Region, Ankeny local and #16 seed Connor Peck defeated #32 seed Ian Johnston 4 & 3 during the morning’s Round of 16 matches and followed it up with a victory over #8 seed Joe Palmer in 19 holes to secure his place in the semifinals. Peck will face off against #4 seed and 2017 IGA Match Play Champion Tripp Kinney, of Des Moines. Kinney bypassed #13 seed Brock Barnhart and #21 seed David Combs en route to the semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket in the Steve Spray Region, #34 seed Andrew Huseman is set to face off against four-time IGA Champion and #38 seed J.D. Anderson in Thursday’s semifinals. Huseman is hot off of a victory last weekend at the Fort Dodge Amateur and overtook #50 seed Brian Verduyn and #10 seed Anthony Ruthey to claim his spot in Thursday’s semifinal match. Anderson defeated #11 seed Cale Leonard in Wednesday’s Round of 16 match, and then closed out a 1 up victory over #19 seed Ben Epperly to advance to the semifinals.

Click here to view brackets

Day two of the 32nd IGA Match Play Championship saw the field cut from 64 down to 16 after morning and afternoon matches. Three-time IGA Match Play Champion, Jon Brown, who was the #64 seed into match play, stunned #1 seed and stroke play medalist Dusty Stewart in the morning, winning 6&5. Brown would fall to #32 seed Ian Johnston in the afternoon in a back and forth match. Johnston will meet Conner Peck, the #16 seed Wednesday morning.

2020 Southeast Amateur Champion, Anthony Ruthey continued his fine play, winning convincingly in the morning and afternoon. Ruthey will meet Caleb Peters in the Round of 16 on Wednesday. Peters, the #26 seed knocked off #7 seed Charlie Hoyle in the afternoon to punch his ticket in the Round of 16.

Other Round of 16 matches tomorrow morning at Talons of Tuscany Golf Club in Ankeny include Joe Palmer/Jake Patterson, Tripp Kinney/Brock Barnhart, Timothy Lin/David Combs, Andrew Huseman/Brian Verduyn, Tony Newkirk/Ben Epperly and J.D. Anderson/Cale Leonard.

Click here for a full recap from Tuesday’s matches

Ottumwa’s Dusty Stewart set the pace during stroke play qualifying for the 32nd IGA Match Play Championship on Monday. Stewart blistered Talons of Tuscany Golf Club, in Ankeny, making six birdies on his way to a round of 67 (-5) in hot and windy conditions.

Defending champion Jon Olson, of Ankeny, posted a fine round himself – turning in a score of 68 (-4) to earn the #2 seed into match play. Truth be told, Olson would have been the #2 seed regardless as defending champion.

With the IGA’s COVID procedure of not holding a playoff and utilizing the USGA recommended tie-breaker procedure the cut into match play came at a score of 78 (+6) with two players, Bo McBee and Jon Brown, earning the final two spots. Brown won the event most recently in 2018 and three times overall.

Click here to view Tuesday’s Round of 64 matches

Coming into the 31st IGA Match Play Championship at Tournament Club of Iowa Jon Olson (pictured right) had little expectations. After a solid qualifying round and six match victories later, Olson found himself hoisting the trophy after a 1 up victory over Tyler Smith. Olson, who also won this event in 2011, joins Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Jon Brown as the only other player to win the event more than once.

“I found something this week,” Olson said. “I had no expectations. This week was good.”

Olson, who defeated Ben Epperly (3&2) earlier on Thursday, was impressed with Smith’s game. Smith defeated upstart Dylan Ellis (6&5) in the semifinal round to reach the final match.

“Tyler is a really good player,” Olson said. “I played about as good as I could the last nine holes (in the morning match against Epperly). It’s an exclusive club with Jon Brown, so this means a lot to me.”

To say the final match was back and forth would be an understatement. In the first 12 holes only two were halved, including a total of five holes for the whole 18-hole match. Neither player stretched their lead to more than 2 up at any point.

“I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to that,” Olson admitted regarding the final match status as the round progressed. “It had to be exciting, but I didn’t pay a lot of attention. He got off to a really good start and impressed me. This is a really important win for me.”

Olson, who preaches controlling what you can control, commented that sometimes in match play certain situations can impact a players decision.

“Sometimes you want to hit first out of the fairway, sometimes you don’t,” Olson said. “I only went at #13 once this week, during the qualifying round. I never went after #14. It’s always about focusing on what you can control. I try to control my thoughts and if that’s going well I am happy. This one is for my family and I am really thankful.”

Click here for a full recap of scoring and match results.

Four remain and are focused on winning two more matches to capture the 31st IGA Match Play Championship tomorrow at Tournament Club of Iowa.

In the Jim English Bracket, #56 seed Dylan Ellis continues to take on all comers, defeating Logan Schweinefus (1 up) and stroke play medalist/#1 seed Tommy Doyle (7&6) to earn his spot into the semifinals. Ellis will meet Tyler Smith, who defeated Kolby Chup (4&3) and Luke Miller (19 holes).

In the Jack Webb Bracket, #7 seed Ben Epperly will face #3 seed Jon Olson on Thursday morning. Epperly defeated J.D. Anderson (1 up) and Willis Gaer (5&4), while Olson dispatched Jesper Holke-Farnam (2 up) and Jake Patterson (4&2) to reach the semifinals. Olson will be looking to add his name to the IGA Match Play Trophy for the second time, winning this event in 2011 over Jon Brown.

“I played well this afternoon,” Olson commented. “I kind of found something.”

Semifinal matches will be played Thursday morning followed by the final match in the afternoon.

Click here to see a recap of scores and match results.