CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – With a 3 & 2 victory Friday morning at Cherry Hills Country Club, Auburn men's golf rising senior J.M. Butler punched his ticket the semifinal stage of the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship.
Butler is set to face Neal Shipley of Ohio State Saturday at 1:15 p.m. CT for a spot in Sunday's 36-hole final.
Butler began the morning by clinching a spot in the quarters following a defeat of Paul Chang on the first hole of a playoff. The pair's match was suspended due to darkness the night before. In the round of eight matchup versus Oregon's Jose Islas, Butler jumped out front early and did not look back thanks to a birdie on the first hole. The Louisville, Kentucky native never worked from behind as he won seven of 16 holes and held the advantage for all but two.
Incoming freshman Jackson Koivun fell in extra holes in the quarterfinals to Alabama's Nick Dunlap after a valiant effort all week. Koivun picked up victories over Colorado's Dylan McDermott (1-up), top-seeded Blades Brown (4 & 3) and Fresno State's Matthew Sutherland (19 holes) to make it to the stage of eight.
Senior Carson Bacha clinched the Sweet 16 with wins over a pair of Arizona State golfers in Luke Potter (1-up) and Ryggs Johnston (1-up) before conceding to Islas 3 & 2. Junior Brendan Valdes picked up a single win over James Madison's Josh Duangmanee (5 & 3) and lost to Bowen Mauss (1-down).
Auburn was the only school in the country represented by four players in this year's round of 32.
A fifth Tiger, incoming freshman Cayden Pope, missed the match play cut by two strokes after shooting 70-75 (+2) in the stroke play stage.
Live scoring and covering information for the U.S. Amateur will be available at championships.usga.org/usamateur.
