Staff report

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — East Rowan graduate Logan Shuping and former East Carolina teammate Blake Taylor won their first match on Monday in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

They held on for a 1-up victory in the Round of 32 against Maxwell Ford/Bruce Murphy.

Shuping and Taylor were 3-up through 12 holes, but bogeys on 13 and 17 cut their lead to 1-up.

Shuping and Taylor had to make a birdie to halve the par-5 599-yard No. 18 hole.

Shuping and Taylor qualified for match play with stroke-play rounds of 65 and 68.  They tied for 13th at 10-under and were seeded 14th for match play.

They were the runner-up finishers on the national stage in 2019, which made them exempt from qualifying this year. COVID wiped out the prestigious tournament in 2020.

The Round of 16 is set for Tuesday.

The team of Salisbury graduate Alex Nianouris and former Davidson College teammate Ralph Blasey shot 66-76 — 142 and didn’t qualify for match play.