On the 7000 yard Avila Country Club Course Gary shot 78 and is tied for 28th of 85 players in Amateur Qualifying after the first of two days of stroke play. Avila is a beautiful private club in Tampa and has Fred McGriff, Derek Jeter, and Wade Boggs as members.
As Gary told one of his friends, he started out leading the tournament on the first hole and last place on the second hole! He started birdie quadruple bogey. And then he proceeded to double his sixth hole (hole #15) and shoot a six over par 42 on the first nine. Then showing his usual grit and determination he played the second nine in even par 36 for the 78 with two more birdies and one double bogey. On the day he had four birdies, 27 putts, and hit 9 fairways and 10 greens. He had 3 penalty strokes (all water), and 5 (of 8) up and downs including one sandy.
Amateur qualifying is interesting in that mostly high ranking college players are entered. So today it was Gary (a rising high school Junior) against a University of West Florida golfer Jordan Rizzo (freshman this year but wears the hat now) and a Tulsa golfer Ville Vaisanen, from Finland. Years ago the USGA added a "Mid-Amateur" in which players had to be 25 or older. This eliminated the college players and the "soon to be pros" from the US Amateur Championship. However, it seems to have relegated the US Amateur to the college crowd. I was proud of Gary hanging in after a disastrous front nine and shooting a respectable score.
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