SCOTTSDALE – Top overall seed Tyler Spielman and Mahanth Chirravuri headlined the advancing eight players to the Quarterfinals of the 99th Arizona Amateur Championship at Desert Highlands Thursday. 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.
“I’ve been making a lot of birdies – when you can do that, you can get on nice runs, and that it what I have been doing,” said Chirravuri, of Chandler, a Pepperdine transfer who spent his freshman year at the University of Southern California. “It’s not always going to be that way, but I have to just keep staying patient.”
Spielman beat Dalen Demary 1-up in the Round of 16, after Demary eliminated 2022 Champion Joe Neuheisel earlier Thursday in the Round of 32. Chirravuri, ranked 183 in the WAGR, posted two dominant victories, 5 & 3 in the Round of 32 over Brad Wayment, and 7 & 5 over Jonathan Curran to advance to Friday’s play.
While Neuheisel saw his tournament end, 2018 and 2020 Champion Jake Chanen advanced to Friday’s Quarterfinals, where he will face 2021 Champion Kris Marshall. Arizona State University junior Kiko Coelho needed only 14 holes to beat Brasen Briones 5 & 4 to set up a much-anticipated battle against Phoenix’s Spielman in the Quarterfinals.
“It’s just another match,” said Coelho, a native of Lisbon, Portugal. “You have to play well to win your match, just hit your shots, and win it.”
2022 AGA Championship winner Brian Blanchard of Scottsdale defeated Johnny Carey, 2-up in the Round of 16. He will face Chirravuri Friday morning. Paradise Valley’s Max Schwarz defeated Nick Kling 4 & 3 to set up his Quarterfinal match against 2023 AGA Short Course Champion Allan MacDonald, a 2-up winner over Cade Anderson.
“I couldn’t be more excited with the match ups that are coming tomorrow, we have eight premier amateurs going head-to-head in the Quarterfinals,” said Logan Rasmussen, AGA Managing Director of Rules & Competitions. “We are mixing some things up out on the golf course, and the players will need to bring precision off the tee and a fine-tuned short game in order to compete. Everybody be ready for some fireworks!”
After the conclusion of the morning matches, the winners will face off in the Semifinals. The winners there will then play in Saturday morning’s Championship match.
For more information on the 99th Arizona Amateur Championship, please click here.
