On a warm and breezy day at Hunter Ranch G.C. in the beautiful grape vine surrounded town of Paso Robles, CA, J.R. carded a score of 70 (-2) in the opening round of the Paso Robles City Amateur Championship. With temperatures in the mid 90's and a steady breeze of 10mph+ the playing conditions proved to create a challenging day of golf.
With the lowest score posted for the day being a 68 (-4) and the majority of scores coming in at 78 or higher, the course seemed to have the upper hand on most of the field. The tournament committee made sure of this by choosing to cut the cups in positions that were very difficult to get the ball close to the pin. However, the quality of the putting surfaces were near perfect and there weren't any excuses for missing putts inside of six feet. In combination with pure fairways, mid length rough and fairly receptive greens, a low score was definitely attainable.
J.R. was in position to card a low round today but the putts didn't fall on the front nine and a few avoidable bogeys found their way onto the score card as well. He played very nicely for most of the round, missing the ball in the proper spots and making a few key saves along the way. His putter heated up a bit on the back nine, sinking two consecutive putts of over 20 feet on holes 12 and 13. He also hit the ball close on several occasions for birdie which helped to hold the round together and finish the day under par.
He tees off at 10:30 tomorrow morning in the second to last group, only two shots behind the leader. He is in a very good position to make a run for the championship trophy and to get his reintroduction into tournament golf off to a great start. The weather conditions are forecasted to be similar to today's so he will definitely know what to expect and what needs to be done to get the win.
Wish him luck as he attempts to claim victory and become the Paso Robles City Amateur Champion for the second time in his career. Check back tomorrow evening for the recap of second round action and the final tournament results!
All the best and God bless!