By Alex Blumer
Enquirer contributor

Defending champion Cathy Almquist's first-round loss Tuesday ensured there will be a new champion at the Women's Metropolitan Amateur Championship at Coldstream Country Club.

Jennifer Taylor reacts after missing a 20 foot putt on the 4th green. (Thomas E. Witte photo)

The way Mary Ann Plunkett is playing, it might not matter what the rest of the field is doing. Plunkett showed that Monday's low score of 72 was no fluke, as she needed only 12 holes to eliminate Candy Begnoche Tuesday.

"She's consistent," Begnoche said of Plunkett. "When she's in trouble, she manages to get out of it and still make par."

Plunkett's quarterfinal opponent will be Diane Calkins, who edged Meredith Niemeyer 1-up.

Janie Klare ousted Almquist in a tense match that went down to the final hole. Klare went 1-up after a par on the 17th, and the two halved the 18th for Klare to advance.

"I thought the course played differently today, so our strategy had to be different, too," Klare said.

Almquist was undone by a shaky short game.

"My putting wasn't what I wanted it to be today," Almquist said.

Klare will meet another two-time Met winner in Lynn Thompson. Thompson scored an upset by knocking off last year's runner-up, Jennifer Taylor, 3 and 1.

"I hit a good drive (on the 17th) and an excellent second shot with my 4-iron, and (Taylor) had no shot to the green after her drive," Thompson said of the decisive hole. "It was a very good match; we both played pretty well."

Katie Rakel, the No. 3 seed, also moved on to the quarterfinals with a 4-and-2 win over Leslie Huesman. Bernice Gallagher will face Rakel after dispatching Sara Nelson 6 and 5. Gallagher and Klare are Coldstream members.

The other quarterfinal pits Kim Keyer-Scott against Lori Sue Eberle. Both breezed through their first-round matches, with Keyer-Scott topping Beth Kirkham 6 and 5 and Eberle defeating Carol Kitson 4 and 3. Today's quarterfinal round begins at 8:30 a.m. at Coldstream.

Quarterfinal pairings

(Seedings in parentheses)

• Mary Ann Plunkett (1) vs. Diane Calkins (8)

• Janie Klare (13) vs. Lynn Thompson (12)

• Kim Keyer-Scott (2) vs. Lori Sue Eberle (7)

• Katie Rakel (3) vs. Bernice Gallagher (6)

Women's Met Amateur

QUALIFYING RESULTS

Tuesday

All other matches were cancelled due to lightning and will resume at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Championship Flight

8:30 a.m. Plunkett, Mary Ann def. Begnoche, Candy, 7 and 6

8:39 a.m. Calkins, Diane def. Niemeyer, Meredith, 1 up

8:48 a.m. Klare, Janie def. Almquist, Cathy, 1 up

8:57 a.m. Thompson, Lynn def. Taylor, Jennifer, 3 and 1

9:06 a.m. Keyer-Scott, Kim def. Kirkham, Beth, 6 and 5

9:15 a.m. Eberle, Lori Sue def. Kitson, Carol, 4 and 3

9:24 a.m. Rakel, Katie def. Huesman, Leslie, 4 and 2

9:33 a.m. Gallagher, Bernice def. Nelson, Sara, 6 and 5

First Flight

9:42 a.m. Couch, Allison def. Hall, Vicky, 5 and 3

9:51 a.m. Zimmerman, Mary def. Weber, Nicky, 1 up

10:00 a.m. Schaefer, Meghan def. Koch, Georgianne, 2 and 1

10:09 a.m. Brown, Ana def. Coffey, Linda, 21 holes

10:18 a.m. Gokey, Lynne def. Roark, Sandy, 7 and 5

10:27 a.m. Leadbetter, Debbie def. Reisert, Nancy, 3 and 2

10:36 a.m. Wolf, Shaela def. Cardone, Maryanne, 3 and 1

10:45 a.m. Erb, Marianne def. Kemp, Cheryl, 7 and 5

Men's Met Amateur

QUALIFYING RESULTS

Tuesday

1 Kevin Hall 75-66-141

2 Brad Wilder 69-73-142

3 Scott Ross 73-72-145

T4 Rex Conn 75-71-146

T4 Tyler Johnson 73-73-146

T6 Greg Sullivan 76-72-148

T6 Lance Lucas 74-74-148

T6 J. Volpenhein 77-71-148

T9 Kyle Pinger 75-74-149

T9 Bob Kirkham 72-77-149

11 Wes Homan 78-72-150

T12 Eric McKimm 75-76-151

T12 Dennis Kendall 76-75-151

T12 Todd Ward 73-78-151

T12 D. Stoffregen 75-76-151

T12 Paul Smith Jr. 77-74-151

T12 Todd Pieper 76-75-151

T12 Matt Makinson 75-76-151

T19 Rob Davidge 74-78-152

T19 D. Gustafson 79-73-152

T19 Kyle DeBord 80-72-152

T19 David Allan 75-77-152

T19 Adam Fluty 74-78-152

T24 Robert De Rojas 71-82-153

T24 Tim Sorrows 77-76-153

T24 Kyle Ward 81-72-153

T27 Geoff Newman 82-72-154

T27 John Craynon 80-74-154

T27 Jeff Floyd 78-76-154

T27 Dean Garwood 77-77-154

T27 Brian Keating 79-75-154

T27 Philip Russo 78-76-154

T27 Gordon Willins 75-79-154

T27 M. Marchese III 79-75-154

T27 Kevin Crawford 74-80-154

T27 Jerod Cahill 79-75-154

T27 Andrew Jewell 77-77-154

T38 Marty Miller 79-76-155

T38 Jim Ebel 78-77-155

T38 D. Catacora 80-75-155

T38 J. Feldkamp 80-75-155

T38 Dave Lockard 75-80-155

T38 Joe Chandler 79-76-155

T38 Ben Hutchins 78-77-155

T38 Justin Fender 76-79-155

T38 Sean Brenner 78-77-155

T38 Tim Kelly 78-77-155

T38 Brian Staarmann 77-78-155

T38 G. McDonic 80-75-155

T38 Mitch Mahoney 75-80-155

T51 Brad Schloss 79-77-156

T51 Jay Tilton 81-75-156

T51 Brian Sweeney 79-77-156

T51 David Heinrich 80-76-156

T51 Alex Rechtin 81-75-156

T51 Justin Meyer 80-76-156

T51 Tony Bosken 80-76-156

T51 Patrick Cruz 81-75-156

T51 Tony Townsend 82-74-156

T51 John Taylor 76-80-156

T51 Alex Volpenhein 76-80-156

T51 Adam Buckley 80-76-156

T51 Matt Greco 81-75-156

T64 Terry Papp 83-74-157

T64 Joe Landrum 85-72-157

T64 Mark Boothby 80-77-157

T64 Bob Frank 79-78-157

T64 Sy Mandle 74-83-157

T64 Rob Clarke 82-75-157

T64 David Wolff 77-80-157

T64 Jonathan Ehlen 82-75-157

T64 Bob Spencer 80-77-157

T64 Brad Mitchell 79-78-157

T64 Chris Larbes 76-81-157

T64 James Sheldon 75-82-157