August 16, 2024 | 5 mins
By Nick Hunter

CHASKA, Minnesota – After four rounds and 65 holes of match play in the 124th U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club this week, University of Iowa sophomore Noah Kent was just five holes behind.

The Naples, Florida, native birdied the first four holes to begin his quarterfinal match against Ethan Fang of the University of California-Berkeley on Friday and advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 victory on Saturday.

“I like it when the pressure is really high,” Kent said Friday. “I like it when my back is against the wall and I have to make birdies to win holes. I can make a lot of birdies, as I showed today. Just a good round of golf.”

“I was somehow in the right mood very early on and at the beginning of the round everything just felt right.”

Five birdies on his first nine holes on Friday helped Kent to a 3-up lead after nine holes before Fang countered and won the tenth hole with a par.

Kent regained the momentum of the game when he hit an eagle from 200 meters on the par 4 11th hole.

A subsequent birdie on the 12th hole gave Kent a commanding 4-5 lead and he closed the match with a par on the 16th hole to reach the semifinals in his first USGA Championship appearance this week.

Kent’s stepfather, Dany Fry, was part of the design team at Erin Hills, the site of the 2017 US Open. Fry is also close friends with 1993 US Amateur champion John Harris, a Minnesota native who was in contact with Kent all week in Hazeltine.

“I talked to him this morning. He just said we should keep it simple today,” Kent said. “Keep it up. You’re good enough and you belong here. You know what you have to do.”

Kent will face 15th-ranked amateur and Big Ten golfer Jackson Buchanan, who took an early lead in his quarterfinal match Friday against Jacob Modleski of the University of Notre Dame and never gave it up, advancing 4 and 3.

In Saturday’s semifinal, Jose Luis Ballester of Arizona State University, ranked 10th and the highest-ranked amateur in the world and currently still in the championship, will face fellow countryman Luis Masaveu, currently ranked 23rd in the WAGR.

“It’s incredible, just an incredible feeling, especially tomorrow morning I’ll be playing against a really good friend,” said Ballester after reaching the semifinals on Friday. “It’s not just me, it’s two Spaniards in the semifinals, it’s incredible.”

“We’ve known each other for at least six, seven years, but we’ve become really close in the last three, four years because we’ve played a lot together in the Spanish national team, won a lot of European team championships together and had a lot of victories together. It’s going to be a really entertaining game to watch.”

On Friday, Ballester fell behind after an early birdie by Texan Bobby Massa before tying the score with a par on the 10th hole.

A late comeback, which included a pair of birdies, helped Ballester reach the semifinals with a 3-1 win over Massa.

After trailing Florida’s Brendan Valdes by one stroke after nine holes on Friday, Masaveu tied the match on the tenth hole before taking the lead for the first time of the day with a par on the twelfth hole.

Valdez responded by winning the 13th hole, but Masaveu took control by winning three consecutive holes starting at the 14th hole and closing the match 3 and 2 on the 16th hole.

“I can’t really believe it right now,” Masaveu said on Friday. “When I walked onto the golf course today, I thought, ‘I’m playing in the quarterfinals, I have a chance to get to the semifinals.’ I couldn’t really believe it, but I just tried to play my game and that’s what I did today.”

The semifinal round of the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

THE 124TH US AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
HAZELTINE NATIONAL GOLF CLUB
CHASKA, MINN.
7,548 YARDS, PAR 72

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS FROM FRIDAY
Noah Kent, Naples, Florida, defeated Ethan Fang, Plano, Texas, 3 and 2
Jackson Buchanan, Dacula, Georgia, defeated Jacob Modleski, Noblesville, Indiana, 4 and 3
Jose Luis Ballester, Spain, def. Bobby Massa, Dallas, Texas, 3 and 1
Luis Masaveu, Spain, defeated Brendan Valdes, Orlando, Florida, 3 and 2

RESULTS OF THURSDAY’S ROUND OF 16
Ethan Fang, Plano, Texas, defeated Bastien Amat, France, 2-up
Noah Kent, Naples, Florida, defeated Garrett Engle, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 4 and 2
Jacob Modleski, Noblesville, Indiana, defeated Omar Morales, Mexico, 2 and 1
Jackson Buchanan, Dacula, Ga., defeated Tyler Mawhinney, Fleming Island, Fla., 1-up
Jose Luis Ballester, Spain, defeated Christian Brand, Hurricane, W.Va., 2 and 1
Bobby Massa, Dallas, Texas, defeated Ashton McCulloch, Canada, 23 holes
Luis Masaveu, Spain, def. Phichaksn Maichon, Thailand, 3 and 2
Brendan Valdes, Orlando, Florida, defeated Peter Fountain, Raleigh, North Carolina, 3 and 2

Results of the round of 64 on Wednesday
3. Luis Masaveu, Spain, defeated. GUNNAR BROIN, SHOREWOOD, MINN., 3 and 2

TUESDAY’S LAST COUNT PLAY RESULTS
T54. GUNNAR BROIN, SHOREWOOD, Minn., 74-68—142
MC. BEN WARIAN, STILLWATER, Minn., 69-74—143
MC. JACQUES WILSON, CHASKA, Minn., 72-72—144
MC. SAM UDOVICH, INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn., 74-74—148
MC. NATE DEZIEL, EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn., 84-69—153
MC. JOSH PERSONS, UNIV. FROM MINN., 81-74—155
MC. JACOB PEDERSEN, SHOREWOOD, Minn., 73-83—156

The complete tournament results can be found at: https://championships.usga.org/usamateur/2024/scoring.html