Final-hole birdie by Ball State team ousts former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz and partner Drew Kittleson in opening-round match at U.S. Four-Ball
By Gary Baines – 5/19/2025
After a couple consecutive years of happily going the duration at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz and teammate Drew Kittleson have had their stays at the championship cut unceremoniously short by a couple of college golfers the last two years.
Runners-up in the U.S. Four-Ball in both 2022 and ’23, the two Drews lost 1 up and never led in the match play round of 32 last year — falling to Coloradans Hunter Swanson (University of Colorado) and Max Lange (Colorado School of Mines).
And Monday in Edison, N.J., proved to be a near duplicate as Stoltz and Kittleson again never led and were ousted 1 up by a couple of college golfers — in this case Braxton Kuntz and Carter Smith, teammates at Ball State.
Kuntz, from Canada, and Smith, from Sellersburg, Ind., posted a better-ball birdie to win the par-4 18th hole to prevail. Smith did the honors with an approach to 2 feet and converting the putt.
Stoltz, winner of the 2004 CGA Amateur and the 2001 5A state high school individual title in Colorado, and Kittleson, a fellow reinstated amateur who was runner-up in the 2008 U.S. Amateur, have advanced to match play at the last four U.S. Four-Balls, exiting in the finals twice and the round of 32 twice. On Monday, they birdied the 478-yard par-4 17th hole to tie the match before falling victim to the birdie on 18 by Smith.
Stoltz, 40 and Kittleton, 36, started the day with consecutive better-ball bogeys on Monday before getting untracked and finishing with a better-ball score of 1 under par.
Here are the results for the teams with strong Colorado ties at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in Edison, N.J.:
MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 32 (Monday)
Braxton Kuntz, Canada, and Carter Smith, Sellersburg, Ind., def. former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz, Scottdale, Ariz./Drew Kittleson, Scottsdale, Ariz., 1 up
STROKE PLAY (Saturday and Sunday)
Advance to Match Play
Former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz, Scottdale, Ariz./Drew Kittleson, Scottsdale, Ariz. 69-67–136
Failed to Advance to Match Play
Nick Nosewicz, Aurora/Cole Nygren, Longmont 69-73–142
Kevin Carlin, Denver/Nick Sharp, Denver 72-74–146
For all the results from the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com