George Riefler of Suffolk advanced all the way to the third round of match play before being eliminated in the round of 8 on Thursday during the 67th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship at Army Navy Country Club’s Arlington Course.

This was Riefler’s fourth time competing in the event, but he had not advanced to its match play portion the past two years.

“This was definitely the furthest that I’ve been,” he said.

The championship began with two days of qualifying rounds to get to match play. In a field of 84 golfers who had previously qualified for the VSGA Senior Amateur, the lowest scoring 32 after 36 holes make the cut.

Riefler shot a 79 on Monday and then a 75 on Tuesday to make it happen.

In the round of 32, he played steadily and stayed ahead most of the match to move on. To advance to the round of 8, Riefler got past champion Charles E. Green III via a 2 and 1 victory.

Riefler stated in an email that he was 3 up with four holes to play.

“But my opponent birdied (No.) 15, and I double bogeyed (No.) 16, putting the match back to 1 up with 2 to play,” Riefler wrote. “My opponent found some trouble off the tee at (No.) 17 and ended up conceding.”

On Thursday in the quarterfinals, George Kapetanakis of McLean scored a 4 and 3 victory over Riefler, ending the Suffolk golfer’s unprecedented run.

“The initial disappointment will wear off, and I’ll look back on it and feel good about how far I got,” Riefler said.