Aug. 11, 2008

South Carolina golfer Chris Piumelli reached the quarterfinals of the Florida State Golf Association Amateur Match Play Championship at Quail Valley Golf Club in Vero Beach, Fla. After qualifying 18th, Piumelli stormed through the field of 64 to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion David Johnson.

Piumelli shot a 73 to earn the 18th seed in the event, putting him in the lower half of the bracket. Teeing off from No. 10, he dispatched with Bret Voisin of Orlando 6 & 5 on Friday morning. In the afternoon session, Piumelli faced down Kazuki Imura of Tampa, claiming a 4 & 3 victory to move into Saturday’s round of 16. Piumelli posted a 4 & 3 win over Daniel Berger of Jupiter in the morning to set up the afternoon showdown with Johnson, who was the seventh seed after shooting 69 in his seeding round. Piumelli took the eventual champion down to the wire but fell 1-up on the last hole. It was the only match in which Johnson was forced to play the full 18 holes en route to his title.