Close semifinal win sends Palm Desert's Charlie Reiter to Cal State Amateur golf final
Pushed to the 18th hole for the first time in four matches, Palm Desert’s Charlie Reiter survived a tight semifinal match to reach the final in the 111th California State Amateur golf championship Friday.
Reiter won the semifinal match against Kuangyu Chen of Berkeley 1-up at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach. The win moves Reiter, a former Palm Desert High School and University of San Diego star, into the 36-hole final match Saturday against Kevin Huff of El Dorado Hills. Huff won his semifinal match over Alexander Yang of Carlsbad.
Reiter, who played in his first U.S. Open last month at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., started Friday with a 4 and 3 quarterfinal victory over Tyler Kowack of San Diego. Reiter fell behind in the match with a loss on the third hole, but won four of the next seven holes to take control of the match on the way to the easy victory.
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In the semifinals, Reiter again fell behind early by losing the second hole, but won the third hole to even the match and took his first lead with a birdie-2 to win the seventh hole.
Reiter and Chen then halved seven consecutive holes before Reiter took a 2-up lead with a winning 3 on the 15th hole. Chen won the 16th hole to cut Reiter’s lead to 1-up, but the pair matched 4s on the 17th hole and 5s on the 18th hole to give Reiter the victory.
Reiter, 22, is playing in amateur competitions across the country this summer, including the U.S. Amateur in August, with plans on turning pro in the fall and entering Korn Ferry Tour qualifying.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Charlie Reiter advances to Cal State Amateur golf final
