CARLSBAD, Calif. (Jan. 5, 2013) -- Alex Franklin had anything but a safe lead after posting 73 in the first round of the San Diego County Amateur at Aviara. With three players tied with him, and another four within a stroke, the 36 hole event was anyone's ballgame.

Starting with a bogey on the relatively easy 9th hole, and then making a 20 foot par put on No. 10, Franklin bogeyed the 11th to get 2-over early.

Not the start that the defending champ of the Amateurgolf.com Silicon Valley Amateur (he will defend it next weekend) was looking for.

After settling down with pars, Franklin went on a run of three straight birdies on Nos. 16-18, making up anywhere from 3-5 shots on just about any of his competitors. Especially on the 443-yard par 4 18th, one of the best finishing holes in California with water off the tee, and guarding the second shot with no bail out in sight.

"The wind was starting to blow there," said Franklin. "I hit a good drive and still had 4-hybrid left - I hit the green and made the putt."

Franklin, who tied Randy Haag for Amateurgolf.com Tournament Series Player-of- the-Year in 2012, will head back to Northern California primed to defend his Silicon Valley Amateur title at Coyote Creek near San Jose, against a full field of 112 players.

Jefferson Kao, of Walnut, and up-and- coming 15-year-old who advanced through local qualifying for the US Open this past summer, showed he should definitely be on any college coach's radar, firing rounds of 74-73 to take solo second.

Tied for third at 149 were John Kollus of San Diego and Phillip Chian of Indio, while Nick Ushijima of Hillsborough rounded out the top 5 at 150.

Cyrus Whitney of Oro Valley, Arizona captured the Senior Division title on the heels of a very solid 73 on Saturday for a 151 total. Whitney, starting on the 10th hole, hit a solid drive and hybrid to 20 feet for an easy birdie, then cruised through the back-nine with 8- straight pars to take the lead.

After a double bogey on the 2nd hole, Whitney came back with a nice 10 foot par save on the 3rd, and solid fairway and green play for the rest of the round.

Amateurgolf.com founder Pete Wlodkowski was 2nd at 155; Don Garczewski of Carlsbad and Paul Hundhammer of San Diego tied for 3rd at 156. All three are members of the Torrey Pines Men's Club.

Kurt Erikson of Carlsbad won the Net Division at 148; Korsen Yu of Sunnyvale was second at 150 and Scott Henrikson rounded out the top 3 at 152.

Michell Piyapattra, who plays for the Columbia University Women's golf team, fired two steady rounds of 78 to win the Women's gross at 156; Ava Lourenco won the Net prize.

Net winner Kurt Erikson (left), Women's champ Michelle Piyapattra, and Senior winner Cyrus Whitney

TOURNAMENT NOTES:

* A note of thanks to the entire staff at Aviara Golf Club for hosting us this year, and hopefully for many years to come. The LPGA Tour will play Aviara in March; it should be interesting to see how they handle the greens when they are running faster than 11 on the stimpmeter.

* SKINS were taken by four different players - if you won a skin a check will be mailed to you promptly.

* A sincere appreciation to sponsors Titleist, True Temper/Project X, Lamkin, and Flightscope for providing prizes for proximity contests.

SKINS: $105 each

Bob Grassa, No. 4, Birdie 3
Chris Laub, No. 16, Birdie 3
KK. Limbhasut, No. 2, Birdie 3
Dino Antenucci, No. 7, Birdie 3