Home-course mastery runs out for Litzelfelner

Shawn Jasper got breaking news in his pairing with Matt Litzelfelner during the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Junior Match Play Championships Thursday at Bent Creek Golf Course.

Jasper, the top seed in the 32-player field, found out 25th-seeded Litzelfelner was more than vaguely acquainted with the course. Not only did he learn it was Litzelfelner's home course, but found it was part of the family, owned by his father, uncle and grandfather.

"I actually didn't know that till after we started, and then he said he lived here," said Jasper of Marthasville, Mo. "He said they kind of owned it, and I was like, 'Man, now I've really got to play well now."

That he did.

Jasper, a finalist in match play last year, birdied two of the first three holes to grab control of the match en route to a 3 and 2 victory over the Jackson native.

He found himself up three after four holes and never let the lead drop below two. Jasper was 1-under-par for his round when the match ended on No. 16.

"My goal is to grab the lead early," Jasper said. "I want to get at least one or two up after the first five holes. If I can do that I can just coast in and force them to play really well to get it back."

Jasper saw fourth-seeded Ryan Blechle of O'Fallon, Mo., employ that same strategy in the semifinals later in the day. Blechle got 2-up through four holes and eliminated Jasper to reach today's championship match with a 2 and 1 victory.

Blechle eliminated

Blechle will face second-seeded Matthew Bortis of Springfield, Mo., in today's 36-hole title match, which begins at 8 a.m. Bortis disposed of 26th-seeded Dalton Owens of Mount Vernon, Mo., 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals, then edged 11th-seeded Stefan Ballage of Jefferson City, Mo., 2 and 1 in the semifinals.

But Jasper, a two-time all-state golfer at Francis Howell headed for Newman University in Wichita, Kan., had the distinction of eliminating the final entry from Southeast Missouri.

Litzelfelner, a recent graduate of Jackson High School and bound for Southeast Missouri State University on a golf scholarship, couldn't muster the comeback magic he used in reaching the quarterfinals. He found himself down two with four holes to play on Wednesday before rallying for a 1-up victory over Curtis Kirchner.

Against Jasper, Litzelfelner steadied himself with a 15-foot putt on the No. 6, a par 3, to half a hole. He then reduced his deficit to two holes with a 15-foot birdie on No. 7, a par 4.

After making a scrambling par on No. 9 to make the turn at 2-down, Litzelfelner looked to be in position to cut the lead to one on the par 5 No. 11.

Jasper drove his ball into the left rough and then, hitting before Litzelfelner, topped a 3-wood that advanced about 50 yards.

"I knew he hit it bad, but I didn't know exactly where it was," Litzelfelner said. "I thought he was up by the green somewhere."

About 230 yards out, Litzelfelner opted out of his 3-wood for a safer 5-iron layup shot that landed in a bunker, leaving a long sand shot.

"I just hit the wrong club," he said. "I hit the right shot. I just hit it too far and put it in the bunker."

His sand shot went over the green and he failed to get up and down for par. Jasper, short of the green in three, increased his lead to 3-up with a chip and a putt for par

"I felt that was pretty huge getting back to three up," Jasper said. "The momentum was definitely changing. He gained some momentum and started making some putts on me. I felt like I had the momentum back and could finish it off."

Litzelfelner took a penalty stroke on his ensuing drive on his way to dropping the hole and going down by four.

He picked up two holes with a Jasper bogey on No. 13 and a birdie on 15, the first of four holes he needed to win. His fate was sealed with a par on No. 16.

"I got to the final eight, which I was pretty happy with," Litzelfelner said. "I played him pretty good even though I didn't play my best. The guy played awesome. He was flawless."