Hurricane Creek Country Club
(Hurricane Creek Country Club Photo)

Devin Jackson, Longview, got his day going in the right matter with back to back birdies on the first and second hole. He added one more on the sixth before made his lone bogey on the 8th hole. The back nine is where Jackson really made an impression with birdies on four of the first six holes on the back nine. Sitting at six-under-par, he poured one more in at the eighteenth to take a two shot out-right lead.

A group of three players trail Jackson which include, Levi Pettit from Dallas, Aaron Hickman of Tyler and Dave Davis of Saginaw. Levi Pettit and Aaron Hickman began their days almost identically. Both player began on the tenth and pared the first two holes. The pair also played the 12th the same however this time it was with bogeys.

For Aaron, that mistake was his last as he would go on to birdie the next three holes and four of his last six. The Tyler native’s back nine featured just ten putts and allowed him to turn at three-under-par. Hickman birdied the second and sixth hole to finish his day. Aaron took advantage of the par-fives by birding each one of them to grab a share of the lead.

Levi, bounced back after his bogey with birdies on the 14th as well as the 17th and 18th. His good fortune continued when he birdied two of the first three holes on the front side his back nine. The Dallas resident added one more birdie on the 586 yard par-five sixth to card a five-under-par,67.

Dave Davis’ round however began much differently. The Saginaw native and 2016 North Senior Amateur Champion opened his front nine with a six under par 30. Davis pared the first hole and rattled off three straight birdies. He pared holes five and six then added three more birdies to complete his outward nine. A slight misstep on the tenth was redeemed on the downhill 193 yard par-three fourteenth. A double-bogey on the 16th was answered by a birdie on the 17th helped him cap off the five-under-par round.

Collin Thompson, Longview, Sean Heidrick, Addison, and Karsten Green, Midlothian, each sit three shots back with their four-under-par 68s. Thompson’s round was propelled by an eagle on the 549 yard par five, 17th. The eagle was just the second recorded on that hole all day. Heidricks’ round only featured one bogey on the day and five birdies. For Karsten, he used six birdies on the front side to help him get into a three- way tie for the lead.

The course played out to 7,089 yards for the first round of the North Amateur. A total of 20 players were under par for the day with scoring average playing out to be just above 75.

The second round of the North Amateur will begin at 7:30 a.m CDT again off the 1st and 10th tees. Devin Jackson will look to extend his lead tomorrow at 7:30 off the tenth tee.

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