PINEHURST, NC (June 25, 2018) - Cooper Musselman played a near perfect opening round of golf at the North & South Amateur this afternoon. With a 3-under-par 67 on the Donald Ross design, Musselman finds himself two ahead of the pack halfway through qualifying play and in pole position to earn a top seed going into match play, not bad for his very first time playing the iconic Pinehurst No.2.

Cooper would get rolling early, making a 40-foot bomb on the fourth hole for his first birdie of the day, following up with another birdie on the par-5 5th hole to get his score to 2-under. He would finish the front nine blemish free before making his first bogey on the long par-5 10th hole.

Bouncing back quickly, the University of Kentucky golfer made routine birdies on 13 and 14 to get his score to 3-under, following with his second 40-foot birdie roll on the 16th, which if not for a bogey on the tough 18th hole would have been good enough for a 66 on the day.

“I just putted really well today,” began Musselman following his round. “This is the first time playing here so I was just trying to not make any mistakes. Just hit the fairways and the middle of the greens. The course is very difficult and I felt like if I was around even par then I would have a good chance to make it to match play.”

With 85 of 93 competitors already over par in qualifying, it seems safe to say that Musselman’s prediction will hold.

Oklahoma State senior and NCAA team champion Zachary Bauchou, West Virginia’s Matthew Sharpstene, and SMU’s Gray Townsend all managed 1-under-par 69 to keep within two of the leader.

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