Teeing it up in the Southern California Amateur Championship for the first time in ten years, J.R. was very excited to get things started this morning. He was prepared for a long day of 36 holes which would require his ultimate patience to stay focused and execute for 11 hours of golf. He was able to accomplish this for the most part hitting 16 out of 18 greens in regulation during his first round. Unfortunately, the putts did not find the bottom of the hole as quickly as he would have liked and he opened the tournament with a round of 71 (-1).
Not a terrible start, a quick 20min lunch and he was back on the course for round two. Making two birdies in his first five holes of the second round he was right on track to move his way up towards the top of the leaderboard. He was derailed a bit after missing a very good birdie opportunity on the par-5 sixth hole and then a bogey on the eighth hole. Turning in one under par he was still in good position to finish the day strong. However, two late bogeys on the back nine left him with a round of 73 (+1) and a two round total of 144.
J.R. is heading into the weekend T-19, eight shots behind the leaders and five shots outside of the top-10. His goal for tomorrow is to swing the club more aggressively, score better on the par-5's and to stay very patient on the greens. He is anticipating that his best golf will reveal itself over the next two days and he is looking forward to the challenge that awaits. His tee time is 7:30 am tomorrow and he will be teeing off on hole 1. You can follow the Southern California Amateur Championship live at: saga.org/amateur
Thank you very much for visiting jrwarthen.com All The Best and God Bless!