SCOTTSDALE – Chandler’s Mahanth Chirravuri and Arizona State University star Kiko Coelho advanced to the Championship Match of the 99th Arizona Amateur Championship at Desert Highlands Friday, each winning a pair of thrilling matches against some of the best amateur players in the region. View each of the Nicklaus, Palmer, Watson and Player Brackets by clicking here. The names of the brackets pay homage to the four players who competed in the very first Skins Game, held at Desert Highlands in 1983.
“It was really long – the morning match was probably one of the hardest matches I’ve played,” said Chirravuri, a 3 & 2 winner over Max Schwarz of Paradise Valley in the Semifinals. “And then the second [match] I kind of got off to a tough start. I was two down through two, but I didn’t really make any bogeys from there, and I made some timely birdies. Avoiding bogeys in the second match was key.”
“I started the afternoon a little shaky, but quickly found myself back,” said Coelho, who beat 2021 Champion Kris Marshall 3 & 1 in the Semifinals. “I made a lot of birdies and he gave me an eagle coming in.”
Chiravurri started slow, dropping the first two holes against Schwarz for an early deficit. But the Hamilton High School graduate would win three straight holes starting on Hole 5, taking a one-hole lead to the back nine. It would stay that way until Hole 12, when he hit his tee shot on the 121-yard par 3 left into a greenside swale. Chirravuri played his chip into the top of the greenside edge, and watched as the ball took two bounces and rolled into the cup for birdie. Schwarz, who had hit it to eight feet, missed his birdie putt to lose the hole, and never recovered.
“I was one up at that point and he was in there close, so the chances are I was going all square,” said Chirravuri, an incoming sophomore at Pepperdine University after spending his freshman year at the University of Southern California. “But I hit a great chip, got a little lucky, it kind of double-bounced and then broke in. So it was kind of crazy, but it was definitely a key turning point of the match.”
Coelho and Marshall traded birdies and won holes through the first 13 holes of their match, before the ASU junior birdied the picturesque par 4 14th hole to go one up. Coelho would then convert a 15-foot birdie putt from just off the green on the 210-yard par 3 16th to take a two hole lead, and hit one of the tournament’s best shots on the par 5 17th to close it out. Laying 278 yards out in the fairway, Coelho sent a three wood to 20 feet for eagle. Marshall found himself out of contention after a few unfortunate bounces, and would concede the match before Coelho could attempt his eagle putt.
“I hit my drive in the fairway, and just hit a really good three-wood, a high cut to about 20 feet, and that was enough,” said Coelho, a native of Lisbon, Portugal, and a returning standout on a Sun Devil golf team expected to contend for a national title this coming season. “I just want to go get some rest, stay hydrated, eat good, and come out here tomorrow morning and same strategy: keep the ball in play in front of me, just make some puts and hopefully get the win.”
In the Friday morning Quarterfinal matches, Marshall defeated 2018 and 2020 Champion Jake Chanen 2-up, after taking a one-hole lead onto the 18th tee box, and earned the concession after Chanen’s birdie putt missed wide.
Chirravuri needed 19 holes to take down Brian Blanchard of Scottsdale. Blanchard’s approach from the middle of the fairway came up short of the green, and his pitch onto the green missed the cup. The highest-ranked amateur in the field (183rd in the WAGR), Chirravuri then made a 10-foot birdie putt for the win.
Schwarz brought his A-game against AGA Tournament stalwart Allan MacDonald, winning eight of the 14 holes played to end the match early, 6 & 4. Coelho won the 17th hole in his Quarterfinal match against Stroke Play Medalist Tyler Spielman with a par to take a 1-up lead, and finished off the top overall seed on the 18th hole for the win.
The Championship Match is set to start at 7:00am at Desert Highlands, and will be live-updated on the X platform (formerly Twitter), found here. Full coverage can also be found on the Arizona Golf Association’s other social media channels: Instagram and Facebook.
Visit azgolf.org for more information.
