Even playing at St. Joseph Country Club couldn’t help a local golfer with the Missouri Amateur Championship.

More than five decades since St. Joseph produced its last Amateur champion, Brian Haskell came up agonizingly short of reaching today’s championship match. The 43-year-old’s typically consistent play failed in his afternoon matchup Saturday.

St. Louis native Skip Berkmeyer took advantage with a comfortable 6-and-5 victory to reach the final for a second straight year. After dominating in four match play victories, Haskell suddenly had no answers for his off appearance in the semifinals.

“I don’t know if it was one thing; it was just a little bit of everything,” said Haskell, a finalist in 2006. “I hit the irons just kind-of so-so and just missed the greens off the edges and then just wasn’t chipping quite as well, wasn’t putting quite as well.

“I just burned the edges instead of making them, and he made four or five 15-footers. For long, the match was out of hand.”

Haskell lost only one hole in his first four matches, and that came on the back 9 during a comfortable 5-and-3 quarterfinal victory against Josh Taylor on Saturday morning. Against Berkmeyer, Haskell went down one after the first hole.

Berkmeyer gave that lead back at No. 3 after bogeying the par-5.

But from there, Haskell never really recovered.

Berkmeyer won the five of the next six holes and suddenly led 5-up going into the back 9. Against the accomplished player, Haskell’s thoughts going to the back remained realistic.

“The only chance I’ve got is for him to to totally fall apart, which is more than likely not going to happen,” said Haskell, last year’s Missouri Mid-Amateur champion. “Or run off a string of three or four birdies real quick.”

Berkmeyer didn’t slow down, hitting a 25-foot birdie putt down the hill on 10 to go 6 up then winning 11 to go dormie-7.

Haskell did manage to win the 12th to end Berkmeyer’s run of seven holes won over a span of eight played.

But Berkmeyer managed a halve of the 13th with a scrambling par to end the match.

Berkmeyer’s reward is a rematch of last year’s championship match with Colorado University golfer Justin Bardgett, the 2008 champion.

While two veterans tangled in the later semifinal, Bardgett bested University of Missouri sophomore Jace Long 2-and-1. Bardgett never trailed, but Long did square the match entering 13 and kept it there until 16.

Bardgett won the next two holes, including an eagle at No. 17 to close it.

Earlier, Bardgett toppled Missouri Western golfer Caleb Carter to end his unexpected run in the semifinals.

Carter — a Benton graduate — never led but did win 3 holes against the defending champion. He birdied the par-3 11th to draw within one but never squared the match.

Bardgett won 15 and 16 to close out the 3-and-2 victory.

With Carter gone, Haskell remained St. Joseph’s final hope for a championship entering his semifinal with Berkmeyer. A cavalcade of carts followed the afternoon pairing but could do little for the beleaguered hometown golfer.

“It’s good to have the support, especially here at home,” Haskell said. “I wish I could’ve gave them something to cheer about, got a little momentum on my side, but the visitor kept the crowd silent all day.”