University of Arkansas junior transfer Segundo Oliva Pinto lost in heartbreaking fashion on the 18th hole in his match with Georgia Tech’s Tyler Strafaci in the round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur Championship on Thursday evening.
Oliva Pinto’s caddie knelt down and swiped his hand in the wind-crusted sand in the green-side bunker, a rules violation and automatic hole-conceding move that gave Strafaci a 1-up victory at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore.
Oliva Pinto had made up a two-hole deficit in the preceding five holes but did not get a chance to hit his fourth shot out of the sand trap on the par-5, 524-yard closing hole on the Bandon Dunes Course.