THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
SPORTS
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2002 83
Roomies at the top: UC duo 1-2 ·in Met golf Larbes ' Ly.kl'· llS are top seeds match play beginS By Gary Estwick The CincimmU F:nqnirer
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The Cincinnati Enquirer/ERNEST COLEMAN
Brian Sweeney blasts out of a sand trap on the fourth hole of Tuesday's tournament. Sweeney shot 74 Tuesday to advance to match play, where he'll face Jason Ritzert today.
Chris Larbes and Neil Lykins definitely travel in the same circles. Larbes and Lykins graduated from Moeller High School. They both play golf at the University of Cincinnati. And they're roommates. No wonder they met atop the leaderboard Tuesday at the 93rd annual Metropolitan Amateur Championship. The two players earned the top seeds entering today's opening round of match play at Terrace Park Country Club. In earning the top· seed, Larbes improved his first-round perform-
ance by eight strokes. He finished the day with a 6-under-par 66, one shot off the course record. "I feels good to be competing again~t one of my better friends," he sa1d. Lykins, seeded No.2, shot a 2-under-par 70 for the second co~secutive day. _ Ou~. coa~h (at. UC) 1s pretty happy, Lykms sa1d. Lykins an~ Larbes, both 21year-old semors, are two of 32 players still vying for this year's Met title; the second round of cuts redu~ed th~ ~eld from 14~. Chtp. Ph1lhps, Dan Smtth and Domemc Catacora won a playoff for _the _final three ~pots over Kevm H1gby and Chns Straley. Th ey aII s hot two-roun d tota Is of 149. . Match play, w~tch starts at 7:30 a.!?· tod~y w1th Larbes vs. Domemc, pa1rs the top seeds against the lowest seeds. Lykins plays Smith at 8:50 a.m.
Larbes and Lykins may have had the best two performances so far, but the best two-day performance by a threesome went to anoth~r g_roup of _youngsters: Ohio State JUntor Kevm Hall, formerly of St. Rita School for the Deaf (141), New Richmond High graduate and_ incoming Xavier fresh~an J~stm ,Fe~der (143) and Tu~pm H1gh JUmor Luke Underhill (143). The threesome rounded out the top five. "We were really young, and it w~s fun. becau~~ I .could relate w1th thet~ age, satd Hall, who was surpnsed to find out he .':'as the oldest of the group at 19. We all pla~ed g~od golf. We all. made some s1lly m1stakes, but , I thmk we aII had fun t~ge th er. . Hall wasn t the only player havmg f~n. Taylor Metc~lfe, 52, a two-bme Met c~amp10n (1970, 1982) and five-bme runner-up, shot a two-day total of 14~ -good enough to earn a spot . in match
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play for the first time since 199~.~ "I've been there," he said, re< ferring to being in contention fo'r· the championship. "But I'm noL. going to. be ther~ come Friday,.~.t don't thmk. But 1t's nice to pi~ well." ""'Other former champions still: playing include defending chall),P.i~ on Rob Gerwin (145) and six-tifl!e:· winner Jim Volpenhein (14'1H:.· Alan Koster, who won the 191l~ Met missed the cut with a 154. Cha~les Nieman who won • frr 1979, shot a 156.' : .<~ The next step for Lykins afid·.. Larbes, they said, will be to me~(.· in Friday's finals. It won't be easy;::; Neither player has extended• . · ,,. .,_ rna t ch p1ay expenence. If they do meet in the chamrii"" onship match, Larbes gives theedge to his roommate. "He's beeha little more consistent" Larbes... . ' satd. • Results. tee times. 82
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