Aug. 26, 2009

LAS VEGAS - UNLV men's golfer Brett Kanda defeated Kevin Tway on Wednesday in the first round of match play at the 2009 U.S. Amateur, which is being held at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., and has advanced to Thursday's round of 32.

Kanda, a senior and from La Crescenta, Calif., beat Tway, who is from Edmond, Okla., 1 up. Tway, a junior at Oklahoma State, is also the son of PGA Tour player Bob Tway. The father served as his son's caddy in front of the hometown crowd on Wednesday.

Kanda will now face Korea's Byeong-Hun An on Thursday starting at 10 a.m. CDT in the round of 32.

UNLV sophomore Derek Ernst, who also advanced to play in the first round of match play, lost to Chile's Nico Geyger (1 up).

If Kanda defeats An, he would move on to face the winner of Trent Whitekiller, from Sallisaw, Okla., vs. Mike Van Sickle, who is from Wexford, Pa., in the round of 16, which is also scheduled for Thursday at 2:25 p.m. CDT.

Eight quarterfinalists will play one round on Friday, with the semifinal round scheduled for Saturday. The final two players will play 36 holes for the championship on Sunday with the morning round scheduled for 8 a.m. CDT and the afternoon session starting at 1 p.m. CDT.

For more U.S. Amateur results and information, CLICK HERE.