By LARRY MORITZ

Salina Journal

WICHITA -- Bob Vidricksen used ice and Advil to help ease the pain in his sore back. He had no similar remedy for the pain Joe Ida inflicted.

Vidricksen equaled his best finish ever at the Kansas Amateur Championship, advancing to the round of 16 on Friday before falling to Ida in an afternoon match at Wichita Country Club.

Vidricksen, 61, was the only senior golfer to make the cut and qualify for match play in this tournament, then went out and battled three young golfers over two days whose combined age (59) did not equal that of Vidricksen.

Ida, a 19-year old who will be a junior on the Kansas State golf team this fall, ended Vidricksen's run with a 6 and 5 victory in the third round. Earlier Friday, Vidricksen defeated Brian Walker, a recent graduate of Topeka Hayden High School, 3 and 2 to advance to the afternoon round.

"I'm very disappointed," Vidricksen said after playing 29 holes Friday. "On one hand I don't like to lose, but on the other hand, I got beat by a superior player today. He was a much better ball-striker than I was."

KGA rules require all players to walk during match play in this tournament, though their caddies can use a cart. Temperatures Friday were considerably cooler with a steady rain falling through much of both rounds, but the long day took a toll on Vidricksen.

"I'm happy with my performance in general this week, but walking a double round took a lot out of me," Vidricksen said. "Those are the rules and if you can't hang with them, don't play."

Ida's ability to match his opponent's best shots also took a lot out of Vidricksen. Despite making three birdies on the front nine, Vidricksen did not win any of those holes. Ida matched him with birdies on Nos. 3 and 9, and won No. 4 with an eagle.

"I had three birdies on the front and don't win any of them," Vidricksen said. "I came off the front nine 4-down and I wasn't giving up, but I was mentally down."

Adding to that frustration with the scenario that played out on No. 6, when both players had similar-length birdie putts from opposite sides of the hole. While Ida rolled his in (he finished the front nine in 5-under 31), Vidricksen's putt rolled by the left edge.

"He drove a stake through my heart there, or I drove it through myself," Vidricksen said. "I'm 160 yards out and stick it to five feet, then he makes his five-footer and I pull mine a little.

"I was still trading blows with him at that stage."

Trading blows is a good way to describe Vidricksen's morning victory over Walker. Vidricksen led 3-up after eight holes only to see Walker win the next four holes and take a 1-up lead after 12.

But Vidricksen was able to respond in this match, winning each of the next four holes to close it out on No. 16.

"It was the same thing as my afternoon match," Vidricksen said. "I got complacent. He found his swing and I lost mine.

"I was trying to guide the ball. When I started swinging again, then boom, here come the birdies."

One of eight players remaining, Ida moves on to today's quarterfinals to face Jack Courington of Wichita.

Vidricksen was one of two Salina golfers to make the round of 32. Kevin Quinley, 19, was eliminated with a 6 and 5 loss to Patrick Roth of Prairie Village.

Quinley never led in his morning match against Roth, who will be a junior on the University of Kansas golf team this fall. Quinley made a pair of eight-foot putts early in the match, the first on No. 2 to win that hole with par, and again at No. 4 for birdie to halve that hole.

The rain began to fall after both players hit their tee shots on No. 5 and that's when Roth began to pull away, winning the next two holes and making the turn 4-up.

"(Roth) was a great player and anything from 10 to 12 feet, he was making it," Quinley said. "I just didn't give myself many chances. I was hitting it in the rough and in the trees where I didn't have a shot at the green. In match play you can't do that."

The loss ended Quinley's first Kansas Amateur appearance and concluded what had been a fairly impressive week for the 2007 Salina South graduate, who will be joining the Fort Hays State golf team this fall but has to sit out his first year under NCAA transfer rules.

"Starting last Thursday until now, it has not been a bad week of golf for me," said Quinley, who won his first Saline County Medal Championship on Sunday. "That was a lot of competitive golf and I'm ready for a break.

"But I was happy I qualified for match play here, which was my first goal. It was my first time here and I had a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to coming back."