RUMFORD, R.I. (June 18, 2014) -- The wind
was
howling and scoring was at a premium. But
LSU’s
Stewart Jolly found a way to withstand both
realities during the first round of play at the
2014
Northeast Amateur.
Jolly, a member of the U.S. Palmer Cup squad,
fired a 2-under 67 to take the lead over a
loaded
field under tough conditions at Wannamoisett
Country Club.
Jolly went out in even par 34 and, after
balancing
a bogey on No. 15 with a birdie on 10, birdied
Nos.
17 and 18 to come in with the low mark of the
day.
Purdue’s Adam Schenk and Hans Reimers, a
recent
Mercer graduate, held the lead after the
morning
action. They both shot 1-under 68s despite
the
wind howling at its fastest speeds during
morning
play. During the afternoon wave, Kurt
Kitayama of
UNLV and Ole Miss’ Blake Morris carded 1-under
68s on the short but trick Donald Ross design.
“It was a lot of fun playing in the wind,”
Reimers
said. “I’ve had a lot of success playing in the
wind
and I was really able to control my ball today.
Reimers, who hails from Oregon and won last
year’s Brickyard Collegiate and Oregon State
Open
titles, birdied Nos. 16, 17 and 18 -- after
starting
on No. 10 -- and withstood a bogey-4 on the
par-
3 8th for his solid start.
“I love (the course,” he said. “It’s very similar
to
some styles of courses we have back home.
Real
short, narrow, some long rough and some fast,
quick bent grass greens.”
Schenk, the 2013 Indiana State Amateur
champion
and Top 3 finisher at the AmateurGolf.com San
Diego County Amateur earlier this year,
balanced
five bogeys with four birdies and an eagle-3 on
the
par-5 17th.
Northeast Amateur Round 1
Photos
Wake Forest’s Clancy Waugh finished at even
par
tied alongside UNC’s Bailey Patrick. Waugh had
it
going early on, shooting 3-under on his front
nine.
A double-bogey 6 on the par-4 second,
however,
halted his string of birdies.
A group of 10 golfers sit at 1-over 70 after
Round
1. The group includes Georgia Tech’s Seth
Reeves,
2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up Garrett Rank
of
Canada and Gavin Hall, the University of Texas
star who played in the 2013 U.S. Open at
Merion.
““It was kind of hard out there. This is just like
back home,” said Hall, who hails from the
Rochester, N.Y. area. ““IIt’s hard to read the
greens. these are the best greens. I didn’t
really
have an expectations. but wanted to play
solid.”
Jordan Niebrugge, a 2013 U.S. Walker
Cup team member, leads a group of players
tied at
2-over 71.Indeed, the wind was the story
Wednesday at Wannamoisett Country Club.
While
it slowed as they day moved along, its impact
was
felt on the small and tricky putting surfaces on
the
Ross-designed course.
All told, there are 16 players inside three shots
of
the lead and another eight golfers just four
shots
back entering Thursday’s second of four
rounds at
Wannamoisett.
The event, which annually features one of the
game’s best fields and calls Ben Crenshaw,
David
Duval, Dustin Johnson and Luke Donals among
its
impressive list of winners, does not feature a
cut.
AmateurGolf.com will have complete coverage
of
the 2014 Northeast Amateur, including recaps,
notebooks and more through Saturday’s final
round. For a full list of first-round scores,
please
follow the results link below.
2014 Northeast Amateur Round
1 Recap
ABOUT THE
Northeast Amateur
The Northeast Amateur has a historic list of winners,
including Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Collin
Morikawa, Luke
Donald,
Scott Hoch, John Cook, Hal Sutton, and David Duval.
It
has been annually held at the Donald Ross-designed
Wannamoisett Country Club since 1962. The event
is
limited to 90 elite players; there is a cut after 54
holes
and the entire tournament is played in twosomes.
View Complete Tournament Information