All-Shocker final sees Wichita’s Zach Sokolosky prevail with Kansas Amateur golf trophy
It was an all-Shocker affair in the 36-hole final of the 113th Kansas Amateur Match Play Championship on Sunday.
Wichita native Zach Sokolosky, who just announced his decision to transfer to Wichita State, prevailed in a back-and-forth battle with future teammate Michael Winslow, winning 1-up to claim the prestigious Kansas Amateur title at Falcon Lakes Golf Club in Basehor.
The match turned on the 34th hole of the day, the 552-yard, par-5 No. 16, when Sokolosky reached the green in two and Winslow’s approach shot was buried in the green-side bunker. While Winslow had to chip on and missed a 25-foot birdie putt, Sokolosky was able to lag his eagle putt near the hole for a tap-in birdie.
Sokolosky had a chance to end the match on the par-3 No. 17, but his 5-foot par putt slid past the hole. Needing a birdie to extend the match, Winslow’s 30-foot putt came up short on No. 18 to clinch the victory for Sokolosky.
The Kansas Amateur is the latest piece of hardware won by the left-hander who graduated from Andover. In his senior season with the Trojans, Sokolosky won the Class 5A individual title at the Kansas high school state golf tournament by five strokes. He also set the program record for lowest single round (64) and season scoring average (72).
Sokolosky comes to WSU as a redshirt junior after playing four seasons at Kansas. He logged a pair of top-15 finishes this past season for the Jayhawks, while his career-best finish was a runner-up performance where he shot 11-under at the Minnesota Golf Classic in 2021.
Winslow, an Overland Park native who graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas in 2022, just completed his second season with the Shockers and finished second on the team in scoring average this past season.
Neither golfer could gain much separation in Sunday’s 36-hole final, as 2-up was the largest lead held. Winslow was 2-up after 10 holes, but Sokolosky rallied to take a one-hole lead after the first 18 and was 2-up after 24 holes.
Winslow mounted his own comeback, winning back-to-back holes to even the match after 26 holes. A birdie by Sokolosky on No. 9 restored his lead, but Winslow answered back with a birdie of his own on No. 12 to even the match entering the final six holes and setting up the match-defining hole on No. 16.
There were six past Kansas Amateur champions in the field, a list which included Bryan Norton (1980, 2002, 2014), Corey Novascone (1996), Kyle Smell (2012), Sean Thayer (1999), Park Ulrich (2020) and Asher Whitaker (2022).
Sokolosky entered as the No. 1 seed in the 64-man field, as his path to victory included a 4-and-3 win over Whitaker, the defending champion and current Kapaun Mt. Carmel star who is committed to Oklahoma, in the round of 16.
His most difficult match of the tournament came in the second round against Colby Unruh, who led 1-up entering the final hole before Sokolosky rallied to birdie No. 18 and then birdied the first playoff hole to advance. Sokolosky only trailed for 16 out of 103 holes played over the week.
This story was originally published July 24, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
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