Meadville’s Ryan Ferry started the week as the low qualifier and ended the week as the newest EDGA major champion. Ferry faced friend and former Gannon teammate Abe Holmes in Sunday’s finale at Lake View.

Holmes grabbed the first lead when Ferry 3-putted the second. Ferry squared the match on the 5th when Holmes had tree troubles to the right and made bogey. Ferry would lead for the first time when he converted an 8 foot par saving putt on the seventh. He then went on to birdie both the 8th and the 9th to extend his lead to 3 up at the turn.

Ferry had tree troubles left on 10 and a bogey cut his lead to 2 and then on 11 Ferry found himself in the unenviable position of being above the hole on the sharply sloping green. From there he was unable to get down in 2 and Holmes’ par cut the lead back to 1. It appeared that Ferry would get that hole right back after a poor chip on the par-3 12th by Holmes but he converted the downhill 20 footer to tie the hole. Ferry was able to get that hole back on 13 when Holmes hit a drive far to the right, his second hit a tree and his third was left of the green on the par 5 with little chance of saving par. Ferry hit a spectacular second over the trees and onto the green with an opportunity for an eagle 3. Holmes 4th rolled outside of Ferry’s 2nd and when he failed to convert the par saving putt Ferry’s eagle putt was conceded.

Both players made par on the 14th. On the par 4 15th both players missed well to the right but both were able to find the putting surface. Ferry’s long putt from the back of the green slipped well by and he was unable to make the comeback putt so the the par by Holmes returned the deficit to 1. Again, both players made pars on the 16th. With the honor, Holmes missed the fairway to the left while Ferry was long down the middle. Holmes escaped trouble with his second but then missed the green to the left with his third. Well within reach of the par-5 17th in 2, Ferry missed short and to the right and his pitch left him about 20 feet away for birdie. When Holmes left his putt from off the green short Ferry had a putt to win the title. He hit a great putt but lipped out on the high side and then waited to see how his opponent would fare on the same line. Holmes’ putt to send the match to the 18th also lipped out making Ferry the champion.

Full results.

Another double round was completed today at Lake View, today being the quarter- and semi-finals. Of the 8 that began the two just two emerged, Abe Holmes and Ryan Ferry, who will face off in tomorrow’s finale. They will tee off tomorrow at 1:30.

The opening match of the day pitted two 2-time runners up, Alex Weir and Mike Wolfe. The match went the distance and was close throughout with neither player holding more than a 1up lead. Weir took his first lead with a par on the par-3 twelfth but Wolfe came right back with a birdie on 13. Weir clawed back on top with a par on 15 and, again, Wolfe evened the match with a birdie on 16. The two would make pars on the final to holes, sending their match to sudden death where Wolfe would win the match on the first extra hole.

Abe Holmes made quick work of 3-time Match Play champion Ed Podufal, closing the match out on 12 with a 7&6. Entering the match Podufal featured 46 match play wins overall (tied for 4th most overall) while Holmes has just 5, but the recent Gannon grad’s youth was too much for now senior, Podufal. Holmes went on to then defeat Wolfe in another match that went the distance. A poor front side allowed Holmes to gather a 4up lead. Wolfe got one back on 10 with a birdie but then bogied 11 to return to 4 down. I nice par save on 12 gained one back and Wolfe go another on 13 where Holmes had tree troubles. Both players missed the green on the par-3 14 and Wolfe was left with about a 5 footer to get to within one hole. His putt circled the hole and came back toward him leaving a great opportunity lost. Both players parred the next two holes. On 17 Holmes hit an errand drive that resulted in a lost ball taking the match to 18 with Holmes one up. Wolfe could not capitalize on the opportunity, missing the green to the right while Holmes hit a qualify shot to about 8 feet. When Wolfe failed to chip in the putt was conceded and the match ended with Holmes a winner, 2up.

Ryan Ferry, the 2023 qualifying champ continued his march toward the title. He opened the day with a 3&2 victory over 2013 champion Ted Grassi, III. His afternoon match up was against Drew Deimel, a 3-time Match Play champion. This match, too, was close. After a few back and forths Ferry took a 1up lead with a birdie on the par-4 ninth. Both players then proceeded to par the next 7 holes. On the par-5 17th Deimel had a birdie opportunity from 15 feet that he missed just short and right leaving Ferry with an opportunity to end the match with a 6 footer for birdie. End the match he did, indeed and now has a spot in the finals against former Gannon teammate, Abe Holmes.

This is the 6th consecutive Match Play with a Gannon player in the finals. Their success has been pretty good with Deimel winning in 2017-18, Jon Merriott in 2021, and Matt Barto in 2022. This year will add another Gannon match play champion as both finalists are Gannon players.

The finals tee off at Lake View Country Club at 1:33 on Sunday afternoon for the 18-hole final.

It was a full day of match play at the Lake View CC with the first two rounds of the 51st EDGA Match Play Championship sponsored by Marquette Savings Bank.

Low Qualifier Ryan Ferry had a relatively short day needing only 15 holes to defeat Anthony Tupek and then only 13 holes to dispatch Mark Majewski. Ferry moves on to 2013 champion (at Lake View) Ted Grassi, III. Grassi defeated Dave Spitzer 3&2 and 2021 Champion Jon Merriott 2&1.

Defending champion Matt Barto bested Brett Folga 3&1 in the morning and then, in a rematch of last year’s final, was unable to defeat Alex Weir again. Weir took the match 1up when Barto was unable to make par on the closing hole. Weir defeated veteran Mike Capotis in the morning match 3&1. Weir will face Mike Wolfe in the morning. Wolfe, like Weir is looking for his first EDGA major title and both have been runner up twice in the Match Play. Wolfe defeated Kennedy Neely 5&4 and Zach Henry 3&2 to advance.

Gannon grad Abe Holmes took down Andrew Klein 7&6 and then Jimmy Callaghan 2&1 to earn the right to face 2022 Hall of Fame inductee and 4-time EDGA major champion (3 Match Play, 1 Amateur) Ed Podufal. Podufal defeated T.J. Mitchell 4&3 in the morning and then made Isaiah Swan his second victim with a 3&2 victory in the afternoon.

The bottom half of the brackets is occupied by a couple of multiple EDGA major champions. 2-time EDGA Amateur champion (2017, 2019) Tyler Cozad opened with a 6&5 win over 2006 Match Play champion Rob Nicotra and the rolled over home course favorite Dave Martin 2&1. The final quarterfinalist is 4-time EDGA major champion Drew Deimel. Deimel was the victor the last time the finals were at Lake View in 2019. He went the distance with 2017 Match Play champion Sean Sculley after building a 3up lead after 10 holes to close out the match on the final hole with a par. Deimel then went on to defeat Maclain Deitrick 5&4, this time building a 5up lead through 10 and then swappping 2 holes before tieing the final two for the win.

The quarterfinals tee off at 8:00am tomorrow morning at Lake View with the semi-finals slated for a 1:00pm start.

Complete results.

The field of 48 qualifiers took to the Lake View Country Club, albeit 4 hours after the scheduled shotgun start due to the steady morning rain, in search of one of the 31 spots available to make the match play bracket, joining the defending champion, Matt Barto.

It was a basically miserable day with not only rainy and wet conditions but also cool temperatures. Ryan Ferry was able to conquer both the conditions and the course finishing atop the field with a one-under par round of 71 which included 4 birdies and 3 bogies. Closely behind was his former Gannon teammate, Abe Holmes who, along with 2-time EDGA Amateur Champion Tyler Cozad shot rounds of one-over par 73’s. Isaiah Swan was alone in 4th with 74.

Another Gannon alum and 4-time EDGA major champion, Drew Deimel was next, along with Dave Spitzer and Zach Henry at 75. Mike Wolfe shot 76. The top 10 was rounded out with 5 players at 77 which included Breckin Taylor, Maclain Deitrick, Mike Newcomer, T.J. Mitchell, and Dustin Coleman.

Alex Weir, the runner up in the last two match play events as well as the last two EDGA Amateurs shot 78 and will face fellow Kahkwa member Mike Capotis in his quest for his first EDGA title. That path will be a tough one as the defending champion, Matt Barto as well as Mike Wolfe, Abe Holmes and Isaiah Swan are all in the top half of the bracket. The bottom half is led by qualifying champ Ryan Ferry. The lower half includes former EDGA champions Drew Deimel, Tyler Cozad, Ron Coleman, Ted Grassi, III, Jon Merriott, Sean Sculley and Rob Nicotra.

Match play begins on Friday morning with 16 first round matches teeing off on both the 1st and 10th tees. Winners will face off on Friday afternoon. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held on Saturday and the finals are scheduled for Father’s Day Sunday.

Click here for event results.