Hodge, Ledford Advance at U.S. Amateur

SAN FRANCISCO—Two University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfers advanced to the second round of match play at the U.S. Amateur held at San Francisco’s Olympic Club.

Bryce Ledford and Jonathan Hodge both won their opening matches 3 and 2 to advance to Thursday’s second round.

Hodge, who won two matches last year to advance to the final 16, made birdies on the second, sixth and ninth holes to lead Craig Smith 2-up after nine holes. A Smith bogey on number 11 pushed the margin to three holes before the duo halved the next five holes to close the match out on the 16th.

Ledford lost the first two holes of his match to eighth seeded Daniel Kefale before winning the third and fourth holes to pull back to all square. A Ledford bogey on No. 5 gave Kefale a 1-up advantage after five holes, but he pulled back to even with a par on the seventh. Ledford won the 10th through 12 holes with two pars and a bogey to take control of the match, 3-up with six holes remaining. Ledford closed out the match by halving the final four holes to claim a 3 and 2 win.

“Bryce and Jon have really put a lot of work into their games and it is showing this summer” said Chattanooga head coach Mark Guhne. “Bryce was first alternate twice at the Amateur and getting in his last chance means a lot to him, so I am happy to see him do well. Jon turned a few heads at this event last year, and he thrives in this type of environment. I am not at all surprised to see them both playing well. When you add what Fredrick Qvicker did last week (making the cut and low amateur at the Scandinavian Masters), it has been a good couple of weeks for the Chattanooga golf program.”

Hodge and Ledford both advanced to match play Wednesday morning after stroke play qualifying stretched to a third day due to fog and darkness curtailing play each of the first two days.

Hodge, seeded 28th in the 64-player field, advanced to match play for the second consecutive year. His two-round stroke play total of 144 (+4) was good for a tie for 25th in the 314 player field. Ledford, playing in his first U.S. Amateur, was two strokes behind Hodge in a tie for 49th. Derek Rende, the third Chattanooga player to qualify for the championship, missed the cut in his first Amateur finishing at 16-over.

Hodge is the reining Player-of-the-Year in the Southern Conference - earning his second All-Conference selection, while Ledford was named All SoCon for the third time. Rende was the SoCon’s Freshman-of-the-Year. Last year, the trio led the Mocs to the program’s first NCAA Regional appearance by claiming the second Southern Conference championship in school history.

The Golf Channel will have two hours of coverage tomorrow beginning at 6:30 p.m. (EDT).