What Happened
The 62nd Senior Amateur Championship got underway on Tuesday. Six players finished the day tied at the top of the leaderboard at 1-under par 71: Bob Levy, Ryan Howison, Kevin Altenhof, Daniel Owen, Miles McConnell and Joe Shaktman.
In total, 144 players teed it up at Lago Mar Country Club battling against tough rainy and windy conditions.
McConnell carded his first birdie of the day on the 10th, adding two more on the 16th and 17th. The Tampa native ran into some trouble on the 18th chipping it from off the green into the water, finishing with a double bogey to fall back to 1-under 71 for the day.
Owen birdied the 18th, his final hole of the day, to card a 1-under 71, while Shaktman finished the day bogey free with a birdie on the 10th.
Six players finished the first round in a tie for seventh at even-par 72.
What’s Next
The second round of the Senior Amateur Championship will begin on Wednesday with a cut to low 60 and ties following the second round.
Notable
- In extremely windy conditions, only 12 players finished the day at even par or better.
- Mike McCoy, the 2022 Senior Amateur champion and U.S. Walker Cup captain, posted a first-round 72 to sit one shot back of the leaders.
- McConnell is the reigning FSGA Senior Player of the Year and is looking to win his first Senior Amateur Championship.
- Don Whittemore carded the most birdies of the day with six, while several players finished the day with five.
- Owen, who holds a share of the first-round lead, captured the win at the 1998 Amateur Championship and is seeking his fifth FSGA championship.
- Lago Mar Country Club (par 72) played to a 79.32 average score, with the par-4 third hole playing the hardest with an average score of 4.79.
- John Dunlap was the lone players in the field to card an eagle.
Quotable
“The wind was just blowing hard, but fortunately it only rained a couple of times. I had never played the course, so I just wanted to plot my way around there. In the wind, you couldn’t really go at a lot of pins. I missed a couple of short putts in the middle of the round, but finally made a birdie on the 10th to get me under par. I added two more birdies on the 16th and 17th, but unfortunately ended with a double on the last.” – Miles McConnell on his first-round 71
“It was just a lot of pars out there. I hit a lot of good shots - it was just really windy out there. I hit it in the water on the 17th hole but recovered with a nice birdie to finish on the 18th.” – Mike McCoy on his first round
“The greens are perfect, the fairways are great and the course was able to take all the rain that came down. It was a battle to keep it in play and get it close to the green. You weren’t going to hit every green, but my short game was phenomenal. But it was a battle, I’m tired.” – Kevin Altenhof on taking a share of the first-round lead
