UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Blake Hathcoat and Michael Slesinski advanced to the Round of 16 of the US Amateur Four-Ball Championship hosted at Chambers Bay Golf Course after strong performances in the early days of the event. 

The Championship welcomed 127 other amateur duos who were top finishers in their respective local tournaments. It began on Saturday with a round of stroke play and continued to Sunday with a second round to determine the top 32 pairs. Hathcoat and Slesinski combined to shoot 11-under in thes best-ball format to tie for eighth and make the cut. The two Gaels shot 64 in the first round and 68 on Sunday to arrive at their total. 

On Monday, Hathcoat and Slesinski began the match play portion of the tourney and faced off with Bryan Boaz and Cole Wiederkehr. Saint Mary's tandem ended up taking the round easily by winning 6 and 5 for the largest win of the Round of 32. 

The Gaels began the round with a birdie on hole 1 to quickly jump ahead 1-up in the match. The tandem recorded two more birdies on the fourth and fifth holes while their opposition notched pars to move to 3-up. Hathcoat and Slesinski then outperformed Boaz and Wiederkehr on holes 7, 10, and 12 to increase their lead to 6-up. After both groups scored pars on hole 13, the match was over. 

The SMC pairing does have an advantage in the event as they previously played at Chambers Bay earlier this year. The Gaels participated in the Redhawk Invitational hosted at the course at the end of March. Both golfers shot 2-over in the three-round tournament. 

The Round of 16 begins on Tuesday at 7 a.m. Hathcoat and Slesinski will now go up against Cole Berman and Michael Davis who won 1-up in their Monday match. Berman and Davis previously played collegiately at Georgetown and Princeton, respectively. Fans can click here to follow scoring.