Wheaton Ennis Earns Stroke Play Medalist Honors at 100th Arizona Amateur

PHOENIX, ARIZ. – Birdies were few and far between during two rounds of stroke play at the 100th Arizona Amateur Championship at Phoenix Country Club. Despite that, Litchfield Park’s Wheaton Ennis (-10) carded 13 of them across two rounds to earn Stroke Play Medalist honors and the first seed in Match Play.

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The fourth-ranked junior golfer in the United States, Ennis jumped out to a hot start on Monday afternoon with three birdies on the first five holes. The 18-year old Texas A&M commit remained unfazed through the remainder of stroke play, crediting his composure with his wire-to-wire performance.

“I was driving it well today, so that was a big help and staying patient going to the greens. There were some tough pins out there, so you just have to play to the middle of the green sometimes and take a par,” Ennis said after his first-round 65.

Wheaton Ennis awaits his playing partners' approach shots during the second round of the 100th Arizona Amateur Championship (Photo by Alex Johnson)

Although Ennis never relinquished the lead after capturing it on Monday, Kris Marshall (-8 through two rounds) kept it close. The 97th Arizona Amateur Champion jumped several spots on the leaderboard by firing a second-round 63, which was highlighted by an eagle on the 18th hole, marking the best single-round score of stroke play.

Rounding out the top four were Kurt Watkins (-5) and two-time Arizona Amateur Champion Jake Chanen (-4). In all, 64 players will move onto match play starting Wednesday morning. Marshall and Chanen both expect the field to get more aggressive come the match play rounds as they try to capitalize on their opponents’ mistakes.

“I love match play because you can be a little more aggressive. You don’t have the stress of a mistake or an eagle, following up good, bad or indifferent,” Marshall said. “I think a lot of it will depend on course setup in terms of how you attack the golf course.”

Jake Chanen and Kris Marshall (L to R) chat on the green during the second round of the 100th Arizona Amateur Championship (Photo by Alex Johnson)

“You can be a lot more aggressive,” Chanen said. “In stroke play, you have to be a lot more thought out and cautious but match play is all just based on whoever you’re playing with and what they’re doing. If they hit one in the water or a really bad spot, all you have to do is hit it to the middle of the green and you’re golden from there.”

6 players (Eric Guzman, Eric Dahm, Greg Cesarek, Camron Howell, Jarrett Foote, Tyler Spielman and Rylan Johnson) who finished at +8 will compete in a playoff for the final four match play spots. The playoff will take place at 7 a.m. Wednesday on Phoenix Country Club's 428-yard 17th hole and 527-yard 18th hole.

All Round of 64 matches will be held Wednesday, with Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches scheduled for Thursday. Friday sees the Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches played, with the last two players remaining in field squaring off in Saturday’s Championship Match.

For live updates of the 100th Arizona Amateur Championship, follow @azgolfassociation on Instagram.