Caleb Surratt (Back of the Range/EAGS photo)
Caleb Surratt is ready to put his stamp on the Elite Amateur Golf Series (EAGS),
just like he did last year. The winner of the first-ever Elite Amateur Cup in 2022 will put himself right back in the race for 2023 if he converts his 54-hole lead at the Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Golf Club in Rhode Island.
The University of Tennessee rising sophomore built upon his 36-hole lead by shooting 5-under 64 (yes, Wannamoisett is the rare par-69 golf course), the second-low round of the day, to pull three ahead of the field heading into the final round Saturday. Surratt eagled the 17th hole to get to 12 under for the tournament.
But proven winners are chasing. Luke Clanton, winner of the 2022 North & South Amateur -- another EAGS event -- is tied for second with recent U.S. Open participant Nicholas Dunlap. And Davis Bryant, who won
last week's Southwestern Amateur in Arizona, is tied for fourth with Brian Stark.
Jackson Van Paris, who won the first EAGS event last week at the Sunnehanna Amateur, is tied for 7th at 3 under, nine shots back.
SECOND ROUND STORY
It's tough following a low round, as Bartley Forrester found out today in round two of the Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Golf Club in Rhode Island.
Coming off a 7-under 62 on the unique par-69 layout, Forrester stumbled to a front nine 40 before righting his ship and shooting 33 on the back nine to stay within reach of the lead at 3-under.
But the defending champ of the Elite Amateur Series Cup, Caleb Surratt, made a statement on Thursday with a 3-under 66. That moved him into a narrow lead at 7-under 131. Surratt is trailed by the winner of the 2022 North & South Amateur -- another EAGS event -- Luke Clanton of Florida State. Clanton shot his second-straight round of 66.
Two-time defending champ Dylan Menante, who set a scoring record in 2022, moved up to 11th place at 1-under after posting a 66 of his own. He is within 6 shots of the lead, and is known to go low at Wannamoisett, so look out for his scores when checking the live scoring on Friday.
FIRST ROUND STORY
Someone is going low at the Northeast Amateur again, but this time his name isn't Dylan Menante.
The defending champ (Menante) stumbled to an unexpected round of 2-over 71, with three bogeys and a double on the front nine being the culprit. In fairness, a run of four-straight birdies on the back nine shows Menante's firepower, which allowed him to win the last two Northeast Invitationals -- setting a tournament scoring record of 19-under in 2022.
It's a long week, and anything can happen.
But for now, the limelight belongs to Bartley Forrester of Georgia Tech, who owns a two-stroke lead after a round of 7-under 62 that included 8 birdies and a single bogey. Matthew Riedel is two shots behind at 64, while last year's Elite Amateur Series points winner Caleb Surratt is tied with Dylan McDermott at 65.
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.
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