Nick Wood rallied from a four-down deficit to beat Ethan Flynn 2-up to win the 2024 Nevada State Match Play title. It was the first match play crown for Wood. The tournament was held June 23-26, 2024, at Somersett Golf & Country Club in Reno, NV. –by Bill Bowman, LasVegasGolfInsider.com
Both finalists represented Northern Nevada.
The finale of the four-day golf marathon was set for 36 holes and went the distance with Wood securing the title with a final-hole par.
“I was really surprised,” Wood said of his victory. “It’s the first time I’ve played in this.”
He said he knew he was in for a challenge.
“I’m almost 50 years old…I was just trying to get the ball around the golf course,” he said with a laugh. “Playing against these college kids is tough.”
Wood, who is a stay-at-home dad after working for years at Lahontan Golf Club, had three birdies in a four-hole stretch to take control late in the match.
“I wasn’t going to quit,” he said. “I was going to keep fighting and I’m super-proud to have won.”
In all, the two players teed off for their first 18 holes at 7:30 a.m. They wrapped up their final 18 holes a little after 5 p.m. with an hour for lunch and hydration in between.
“It was definitely a long day,” Wood said. “But I played well the whole week and just kept telling myself to keep going.”
The two finalists battled through the first 16 holes before Flynn won the final two holes of the opening 18 holes to take a 1-up lead.
Flynn won three of the first four holes to start the afternoon 18 holes and was 4-up.
Wood lost the coin he uses to mark his golf ball before the start of the final 18 holes and his focus went away.
“I basically three-putted the first four holes,” he said. “I was off the green on the second hole but I still used my putter. I kind of lost my fire.”
Then Wood started his rally.
He plugged away and got the match tied at the 12th hole before his birdie barrage helped seal the victory.
“Honestly, I just told myself to just chip away…chip away…chip away,” he said. “I said, “Dude, you’re hitting the ball well and you’ve been putting well even though you haven’t made a whole lot of putts.’ I just tried to focus and chip away.”
He did just that.
“I know I’m a pretty good player,” he said. “It’s match play and I know I can grind. I stayed in it, that was the key.”
In the end, the final-hole par locked up the victory.
“Ethan played great,” Wood said. “It just happened to go my way today.”
Oh, and to add to his day, a member of the golf course found Wood’s lucky coin and returned it to him after the round.
2024 Nevada State Match Play Results
QUARTERFINALS
Jackson Parrish def. Ian Peterson, 3-and-2
Ethan Flynn def. Kevin Sweat, 8-and-6
Ian Fritz def. Avery Lazarski, 1-up
Nick Wood def. Oscar Wen, 19 holes
SEMIFINALS
Flynn def. Parrish, 19 holes
Wood def. Fritz, 4-and-3
FINAL
Wood def. Flynn, 2-Up