all comes down to Aldrich, Freeman, Ystebo, and Montplaisir

By Al Edenloff Alexandria Echo Press

After a whirlwind of upsets in the opening round of the Men’s Senior Championship division of the 102nd Resorters Tournament, Thursday’s quarterfinal matches were not as unexpected.

There was one big upset, however. Larry Montplaisir, the No. 14 seed, knocked off the No. 6 seed, Mark Lyczewski, 4-3.

Another underdog outcome: Daniel Ystebo, the No. 23 seed, eliminated the No. 18 seed, Mark Pokorney.

Other winners were the No. 1 seed Mark Aldrich and the 12th seed Jon Freeman.

Aldrich def.

Howard, 6-4

Aldrich surged out front early against Curt Howard, winning the first two holes with a birdie and a par. Howard battled back by matching Aldrich’s par on No. 3 and then winning the fourth hole with a par to get within one.

Aldrich stopped the rally with a birdie on No. 5 and went 3-up with a par win on No. 7. Both golfers halved the next two holes, which kept Aldrich’s lead intact.

Howard was unable to win a hole on the back nine while Aldrich played mistake-free golf, hitting nothing but pars and a birdie on No. 13. He won Nos. 12, 13, and 14 to seal the win.

Freeman def.

Larson, 3-2

Jon Freeman didn’t give Michael Larson many opportunities by consistently sinking pars and birdies throughout the match.

After halving the first two holes with pars, Freeman took the lead with a par on No. 3 and then added a birdie win on No. 5 to go 2-up. Freeman matched Larson’s birdie on No. 6 and Larson’s par on No. 7 before making his third birdie on No. 8 to go 3-up.

Freeman had a couple of hiccups on Nos. 9 and 10 with bogies but only lost one of those holes to hang on to a two-hole lead. Freeman won No. 12 with a birdie to go 3-up. Larson sliced the lead to two with a par on No. 13, but Freeman quickly answered with his sixth birdie, this one on No. 14 to go 3-up. Both golfers halved Nos. 15 and 16, which ended the match.

On the day, Freeman was 2-under par while Larson was 1-over.

Ystebo def.

Pokorney, 1-up

In the bracket’s closest match of the day, Ystebo outlasted Mark Pokorney in 18 holes.

Ystebo held a 2-up lead after four holes, but Pokorney tied the match with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 5 and 6. Deadlocked at the turn, Ystebo surged back into the lead with a par win on No. 10 and followed it up with a birdie win on No. 11. The match tightened up when Pokorney carded an eagle on the par-5 No. 12 to draw within one.

Ystebo matched Pokorney’s par on No. 13 but got into trouble on the next hole with a bogey, giving up the hole to Pokorney’s birdie. With the match tied, Ystebo made a clutch par on No. 15 to vault into the lead. They both halved the next three holes to preserve Ystebo’s 1-up win.

Montplaisir def.

Lyczewski, 4-3

Back-to-back bogey losses on Nos. 3 and 4 put Lyczewski in a hole he couldn’t dig out of. Montplaisir added a birdie win on No. 6 and a par win on No. 7 to go 4-up, an advantage held at the turn.

Montplaisir struck for another birdie on No. 11 to go 5-up. Lyczewski made a mini-comeback, winning Nos. 12 with a birdie and 13 with a par to pull within three. Montplaisir matched Lyczewski’s par on No. 14 and then iced the match with a par win on No. 15 to take the match 4-3.