Champagne Celebration Punctuates Winners' Redemption in Amateur Showcase

The third East West Matches featured players with nearly 600 combined USGA championship appearances and were close throughout four sessions.

The West team takes a champagne shower after winning the third East West Matches. / Courtesy Ben Adelberg

Captain Brady Exber and Assistant Captain Kevin Marsh believed all they were doing was posing for a team victory photo after the West won the East West Matches at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrolton, Texas. But moments later, Exber and Marsh—both from Las Vegas—were rinsing the sting of champagne from their eyes, which was sprayed courtesy of team members Brad Nurski, Drew Kittleson and others.

It was a sweet sting, indeed.

The West won 24½ points to 20½ points after heading into the final 18 singles matches with a narrow one-point lead. There were four sessions that featured four-balls, two foursomes, and singles.

For the third time, the biennial matches gathered America’s top mid-amateur and senior amateur golfers. Prior to the first ball being teed up, co-founder Scott Harvey addressed the 36 mid-amateur and senior amateurs and revealed a stunning statistic: in the room were a total of 589 United States Golf Association championship appearances and 23 total national championships at the amateur, mid-amateur and senior levels.

The victory was vindication for the West. After they narrowly won in 2020, the East dominated in 2022 with a 31½-13½ victory. It was a margin that was embarrassing for the West, and the team and captains spent the last two years planning for payback.

“Not one of these guys gave up,” said Exber, a Vegas amateur golf legend, after his team survived challenging weather and the East's solid play to take the overall series lead 2-1. “My team really showed up in the singles matches. It was such a tight match all week because the East was tough, but in the singles a few of my guys snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The matches are growing in importance and stature, certainly in the players' minds. The competition level here is as good as any mid-am or senior tournament. Every player is a top player. There is no weak spot.”

Leading the West was Iowa senior Mike McCoy, the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and the 2023 captain of the U.S. Walker Cup team. He earned 3.5 points in four matches. Fellow Iowa senior Gene Elliot earned 3 points as did Mark Strickland, a senior from the Southern California Golf Association. Arizona senior Bryan Hoops earned 2.5 points as did Stewart Hagestad, a 3-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who grew up in Southern California.

The East was led by South Carolina mid-am Sam Jackson with 4 points and New Hampshire mid-am Nick Maccario with 3 points.  The East captain was Nathan Smith, a 5-time USGA champion and the 2025 U.S. Walker Cup team captain.

“The great thing about these matches is the level of play is through the roof and it is a shame that some teams have to lose even when they play so well,” Smith said.

The West's victory will likely intensify the competition in future years, but the matches are much more than the on-the-course action. They also serve as a celebration of amateur golf and its history.

“The talent and quality here playing is as high as it gets in the amateur game,” said McCoy, an 11-time Iowa player of the year. “All of these guys have accomplished so much and they are all champions. They are here because they are the best of the best. We all knew that we better be sharp when we showed up here, because otherwise we would get run over.”

Trip Kuehne, who famously lost to Tiger Woods in the 1994 U. S. Amateur final and played on three U.S. Walker Cup teams, participated in the East West Matches for the first time. He was surprised by the pressure he felt and impressed with the talent level throughout the rosters. Kuehne had a chance to win each of his four matches, but finally broke through with a pivotal 1-up win over Jeronimo Esteve in singles. 

“I grew up with Kevin Marsh and we have played together a lot and I also played a lot of golf with Scott Harvey later in my amateur career,” Kuehne said. “For them to put on an event like this is very special. I played on two Walker Cup teams and they were not taking mid-amateurs. You had to be one of the best 10 amateurs, period. I think the mid-amateur game is great and has its place in golf. The East West Matches is an event where mid-amateur golf is celebrated. That is awesome because these guys are very good and the event showcases that.

“Hopefully people notice that there are not just a couple of guys who are pretty good, there is a whole stack of them. I think guys love it. I know for two years this is what a lot of mid-amateur golfers talk about. For me, it is special to be a part of it. And, make no mistake, the competition and pressure is real." 

Maridoe, which hosted the LIV Golf Team Championship in September 2024, is the official home of the East West Matches. Owner Albert Huddleston is a major proponent of amateur golf.

“The East West Matches are fantastic because Maridoe was created to host elite players and to create top-level competition,” Huddleston said. “The exclamation point is fellowship and relationship building. The fact that earning a spot on the teams is now so hotly contested is gratifying. Maridoe was designed to separate the cream from cream because of the challenge of the course. That point was proven yet again this week.”

East Team
Mid-Amateurs: Jonathan Bale, Hayes Brown, Stephen Behr, Christian Cavaliere, Will Davenport, Joe Deraney, Jeronimo Esteve, Scott Harvey, Sam Jackson, Nick Maccario, Andrew Price, Brad Tilley. Seniors: Jack Hall, Doug Hanzel, Bob Royak, Paul Simson, Rick Stimmel and Kevin VandenBerg.

West Team
Mid-Amateurs: Brian Blanchard, Denny Bull, Parker Edens, Stewart Hagestad, Michael Jensen, Drew Kittleson, Trip Kuehne, Josh Persons, Bobby Massa, Brad Nurski, Andy Sajevic, Chris Wheeler. Seniors: Gene Elliott, Bryan Hoops, Mike McCoy, Terrence Miskell, Mark Strickland, Dan Sullivan.

Brian Hurlburt is the founder of www.LasVegasGolfInsider.com and can be followed @lasvegasgolfinsider on social media.