Biwer Falls In Round of 16 At U.S. Amateur

               PARAMUS, N.J. — University of Colorado sophomore Justin Biwer won his first match of the day here Thursday but fell in the Round of 16 to complete a solid performance in the 122nd annual U.S. Amateur.
 
               Seeded No. 22 after stroke play and winner of two match play efforts, Biwer's week came to an end in the Round of 16 against Pepperdine University senior Derek Hitchner, who claimed the win, 3 & 2.   Hitchner got the jump early in the match on the 7,487-yard, par-71 Ridgewood Country Club course, opening with two pars while Biwer went bogey-double.  He extended the lead to three holes with a par on No. 8 when Biwer scored a bogey. 
 
               But the Buff soph came right back with a par on No. 9 and a birdie on No. 12 pulled him back to within one.  Hitchner regained his two-hole edge when he parred No. 14 and when he birdied No. 15 to go back up by three, it essentially sealed the match when both scored par on No. 16.  Hitchner was seeded 59th (but was just three strokes back of Biwer in stroke play).
 
               "I'm really happy with how everything went," Biwer said.  "Derek played a perfect round and made it extremely hard to get the upper hand on him.  I had a really good match before that, so overall, I'm very pleased with how the week went.
 
               "It's a great way to get back into the swing of college golf and I'm really looking forward to taking the things I've learned from this week into the rest of my game."
              
               "It was a really good week for Justin, he played really well," CU head coach Roy Edwards said.  "He played well enough to win today but Hitchner played really well himself.  Justin should gain a lot of confidence from his performance here at Ridgewood."
 
               Biwer won his Round of 32 match in the morning, 2 & 1 over 54th-seed Walker Isley, a junior on the University of North Carolina-Wilmington golf team.                 He never trailed in the match, taking the lead after a birdie on the par-3 second hole though Isley tied him on No. 3 when Biwer bogeyed.  He then birdied the next two holes with his lead fluctuating between 1- and 2-up through 10, when Isley pulled even on the par-3 11th.  After the duo parred the next two holes, Biwer birdied the par-14th, both birdied the par-3 15th, and Biwer went 2-up after he parred No. 16 and Isley bogeyed.  It was all over when both parred the par-5 17th.
 
               "It was a really good match between Justin and Walker," Edwards said.  "They were back and forth all day.  Justin went one up on 14 and then had a huge advantage on (the par-3) 15 with Isley facing a bunker shot.  Isley made it and then Justin made about a 20-footer to halve the hole.  He then won 16 with a par, halving 17 for the victory.  He was steady all morning and Isley just couldn't out-tough Justin despite a great effort to do so."
 
               Biwer, who tied for 21st in the stroke play portion earlier in the week (2-over 143 scorecard), joined David Oraee in 2015 as the last two Buffaloes to advance to the round of 16.