Staff report

CHINA GROVE — The first round of the annual Rowan Masters Tournament at Warrior Golf Club is in the books, with 14 of the top 16 seeds moving into Saturday morning’s round of 16.

On Friday afternoon, only No. 9 Justin Lefler and No. 16 Alex Safrit were upset by lower seeds in the match play event. Lefler fell to No. 24 Patrick Gregg, 3 and 2.

Lefler had qualified with a 73 last Saturday, while Gregg shot an 81.

In just a mild upset, Safrit was defeated by No. 17 Richard Cobb, 5 and 4. Safrit carded a 75 during qualifying while Cobb posted a 76.

The other high seeds advanced, although several of the matches were close.

Defending champion and top-seed Andrew Purcell, defeated No. 32 Robert Purcell, 4 and 2. Purcell just concluded his golf career at USC Upstate.

Michael Swaringen, the No. 2 seed with a qualifying round-best 66, had a battle with No. 31 Bobby Bauer before winning, 2 and 1.

The match between No. 3 Michael Childress and No. 30 Owen Swavely was not close, as Childress won, 9 and 7. Childress, a senior at Cannon School in Concord, finished 19th at the N.C. Amateur last Sunday in Davidson.

Childress lost in the finals of the Rowan Masters last June, to Purcell, 2 and 1.

No. 4 seed Derek Lipe won, 3 and 2, over Cameron Williams. At No. 5, Josh Brincefield got past Shane Benfield, 4 and 3.

Keith Dorsett, the No. 6 seed, defeated Jon Waller, 3 and 2. Dorsett is the defending Rowan Amateur champion and that tournament comes around in July.

No. 7 Jordan Taylor won by default over Michael Kee. No. 8 Mitchell Swaringen carded a 4 and 3 victory over Patrick Street. And No. 10 Andrew Morgan won over Seth Waller, 3 and 2.

In a battle of more Swaringens, Matthew, the No. 11 seed, defeated Trey, No. 22, 5 and 3.

Sean Kramer, seeded 12th, won over Zain Tucker, 1-up. No. 13, Ryan Burke, topped Joel Marburger, 3 and 2.

No. 14 William Little was a 3 and 2 winner against Chris Owen. And No. 15, Parker Chavis, won by default over Clint Scarborough. Chavis, a recent South Rowan graduate, will be a freshman at Pfeiffer University this fall.

Matches this morning in the round of 16, with tee times:

7:52 — Purcell vs. Cobb; Mitchell Swaringen vs. Gregg.

8:00 — Lipe vs. Burke; Brincefield vs. Kramer.

8:08 — Michael Swaringen vs. Chavis; Taylor vs. Morgan.

8:16 — Childress vs. Little; Dorsett vs. Matthew Swaringen.

Saturday morning winners will meet in the quarterfinals in the afternoon. The semifinals are set for Sunday morning the two finalists will battle for the title in the afternoon.

See all results in Scoreboard on page 2B.