Maxwell Moldovan Wins First Match at U.S. Amateur

Uniontown’s Maxwell Moldovan earned his way into the match play portion of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pinehurst, then won his first match in the Round of 64 against a former U.S. Mid-Amateur champion.

Moldovan shot 144 in the stroke play qualifying, avoiding the 27-for-3 playoff for the final spots in the Round of 64 by a single shot. (Cleveland’s Andrew Bailey was a part of that giant playoff, and although he made par on all three holes he played he still was eliminated.)

Moldovan’s first round match was against 13th seed Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, CA, whose resume includes the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur championship. Moldovan beat the experienced Hagestad handily, 3 and 2, winning five holes against Hagestad’s two.

Moldovan will face the 20th seeded Andy Ogletree of Little Rock, MS in a Round of 32 match tomorrow morning (Thurs Aug 15) starting at 8:50 a.m. Ogletree won his match 4 and 3 today.