Bob Kearney
Bryan, TX (Aug. 17, 2012) -– Smoldering heat with little to no wind welcomed the players during the opening round of the Senior Amateur Championship which is being held at Miramont Country Club. One hundred and forty-four players set out to do battle with the Robert Trent Jones, Jr. layout with just a handful of players securing opening rounds under par. With a cut pending after tomorrow’s second round, players look to vault themselves up the leaderboard with low scores. Bob Kearney of Houston shot out of the gate early in the Championship division. Birdies on his opening five holes quickly jumped Kearney to the top of the leaderboard. Adding a birdie on the seventeenth hole (8th hole of the day), Kearney had his sites on an opening 29. Running his birdie putt just passed the hole on 18, Kearney settled for a six under par 30. Making the turn, Kearney’s hot streak ended as he saw his second shot find the water hazard leading to a double bogey, seven. A bogey on the par 3 third hole followed by back to back birdies on holes #6 and #7 gave Kearney an opening round of five under par, 67, and a two shot lead over Mac McGee. McGee, who resides in Midland, didn’t quite have the same start that Kearney did. A triple bogey on his third hole of the day put McGee in a “catch up” mode as he looked to right the ship. After carding two pars McGee quickly erased the triple bogey start with birdies on holes #15, #16, #17, and an eagle on #18 to turn at two under par. Three birdies and two bogeys on his back nine gave McGee an opening round of three under par, 69. Peach Reynolds of Austin finds himself in third place after firing an opening round of two under par, 70, which included three birdies and one lone bogey on the day. In the Super Senior division, Michael Hopson carded an opening round of four under par, 68, which gives him a three shot lead on Houston’s Bob Smith. Hopson’s opening nine included eight pars and one birdie as he turned in one under par, 35. Smith then found his groove on the back carding back-to-back-to-back birdies on holes #13, #14, #15 before making his lone bogey on the par four, 16th. Making sure not to end his round on a sour note, Hopson finished by making birdie on the par five, 18th. Smith’s round was as solid as could be as he carded two birdies, one bogey, and fifteen pars. Sitting in a tie for third are L.D. Clopton, Peter Kirchner, and Jim Hays who fired opening rounds of even par 72 and find themselves four back heading into tomorrow’s second round.
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ABOUT THE
Texas Senior Amateur
The State Senior Amateur is the second oldest
event of all the TGA tournaments, having first
been played in 1937.
Eligibility: Entries are open to male amateur golfers
with a
GHIN Handicap Index of 6.4 or less and who are 55
years
of age or older as of the tournament start date (first
round
of tournament play). All players will be competing in
one
division from the same tees and yardage.
Format/Field Size: Play will be contested over 54
holes of
stroke play. All players will be competing in one
division
from the same tees and yardage. The field is limited
to
144 players. At the completion of the 36 holes the
field will
be cut to the low 54 players and ties.
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