MVC Sports Photo
RUMFORD, R.I. (June 19, 2013) -- Rafael
Becker, who
recently wrapped up his collegiate career at
Wichita State,
fired a
first-round 62 and leads by four shots at the
52nd playing
of the Northeast Amateur Invitational.
Featuring one of the top fields in all of
amateur golf, chock
full of collegiate and mid-amateur stars alike,
the Northeast
is one
of the season's prized events. Becker, a native
of Brazil,
took over the headlines with his 7-under 62 on
the unique
par-69
Wannamoisett Country Club, a Donald Ross
design.
Sitting four shots back is a group of four
players at 3-under
66. Bo Andrews, Bobby Leopold, Cory Whitsett
and
Cameron
Wilson, a New England native now at
Stanford.
Clancy Waugh and reigning NCAA Champion
Max Homa of
Cal, are all within striking distance at 2-under
and tied for
sixth
place.
A terrific group of contenders sits six shots
back and tied
for eighth place. Among them are Louisiana
mid-amateur
and
Walker Cup hopeful Patrick Christovich, Cal
senior and the
2012 U.S. Amateur runner-up Michael Weaver,
2012 Ouimet
Memorial winner Jack Whelan, LSU All-
American Curtis
Thompson and Garrett Rank, the runner-up at
last year's
U.S. Mid-
Amateur Championship.
The northeast has received plenty of rain in
the past few
weeks and scoring conditions on a beautiful
day were
prime. All
told, 15 players are either at or under par
after Round 1.
Other notable players lurking on the
leaderboard are: Cal's
Brandon Hagy (T-26), Texas signee Beau
Hossler (T-26),
Walker
Cup mid-am hopeful Todd White (T-26), Porter
Cup
champion Richy Werenski (T-26), high-ranking
junior Cody
Proveaux (T-
42), Haskins winner and U.S. Open low
amateur Michael Kim
(T-54), North-South winner Peter Williamson
(T-54).
Second-round action continues Thursday with
a cut taking
place after Round 3 on Friday.
Amateurgolf.com will be covering the event
throughout the
week, including live coverage Friday, along
with video
coverage
from the Long Drive Contest.
For full results visit the link below.
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