Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach has survived the Texas heat to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
Miles Russell has beaten the heat and anyone in his path so far in the U.S. Junior Amateur.
The Jacksonville Beach resident won two matches in methodical fashion on July 24 at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas to reach the quarterfinals on July 25.
Russell beat Lucas Latimer of nearby Rockwall, Texas 3 and 2 in the round of 32, then dispatched Miguel Garcia of Mexico 4 and 2 to reach the quarters.
With the heat index passing 100 degrees, Russell was 4-under in 31 holes, did not make a bogey in his first match and never trailed in the second after making two birdies and a par out of the gate to win the first three holes.
After halving the first hole against Latimer and winning the second, Russell led for the last 30 holes of the day.
Tyler Mawhinney eliminated in round of 16
Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island had a chance to join Russell in the quarters but lost 1-up to Rohan Patel of Weston. Had Mawhinney won the match and both he and Russell won on the morning of July 25, they would have met in the semifinals.
Patel won the FHSAA Class 2A individual state title by four shots over Mawhinney last fall. Mawhinney's Fleming Island High Golden Eagles still won their second state title in a row.
Mawhinney routed Stuart Boulware of Fairway, Kan., 7 and 6 in his second round match.
Miles Russell will play Luke Colton
Russell, No. 1 on the American Junior Golf Association rankings, will face No. 3 Luke Colton of Frisco, Texas at 8:30 a.m. on July 25. If Russell wins two matches, he will reach the championship on July 26.
The Russell-Colton winner will play the winner of a match between Patel and Hamilton Coleman. If it's Russell vs. Coleman in the semifinals, it will be a match between the last two Junior Players Championship winners.
The other quarterfinal matches are between Ben Bolton of England and Qiyou Wu of China; and Nicholas Gross of Downingtown, Pa., and Nguyen Anh Minh of Vietnam.
How to watch U.S. Junior Amateur
Portions of the semifinal matches will be aired on Peacock on July 25 from 3-5 p.m. and a replay will be on Golf Channel from 7:30-9:30 p.m.
The championship match will be televised on Golf Channel July 26 from 3-5 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Beach resident Miles Russell in U.S. Amateur quarterfinals
Category: General Sports