Kenosha’s John Pallin nearly advanced to the championship match at the 55th U.S. Senior Amateur on Wednesday at Beverly Country Club in Chicago.

The No. 4 seed Pallin, 56, began the day with a 2-up victory over No. 12 seed Michael Walters, 61, of Tampa, Fla. in a quarterfinal match.

That set up an afternoon semifinal showdown with No. 16 seed Marvin Giles III of Richmond, Va.

Giles, 66, the oldest of the eight quarterfinalists and the 1972 U.S. Amateur champion, won three consecutive holes (Nos. 6-8) to go 3-up before Pallin started to rally.

Pallin won the ninth and 10th holes to pull within 1-down and squared the match with a birdie on the 371-yard, par-4 13th hole. But the Kenosha Country Club member and Wisconsin Golf Hall of Famer could never overtake Giles, a three-time U.S. Amateur runner-up and member of the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame.

Pallin, a two-time State Amateur champion, bogeyed the 454-yard, par-4 15th to fall 1-down, and both players parred the final three holes, giving Giles a 1-up victory.

Giles will face No. 7 seed John Grace of Fort Worth, Texas in today’s 9 a.m. championship match. Grace defeated No. 22 seed and 2004 U.S. Senior Amateur winner Mark Bemowski of Mukwonago 2 and 1 in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

Pallin advanced one more round than last year, when he lost 4 and 3 in the quarterfinals at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth.

Compiled by Jeremy Reeves