Golfers swing through tough outing in amateur championship
Published 9:30 am Friday, June 3, 2016
Vicksburg trio of golfers finished the first day of the 2016 Mississippi State Amateur Championship at the Reunion Golf and Country Club with unusual performances.
Nick Mekus tied for 46th shooting a 75, John Caldwell tied for 111th shooting an 85 and Channing Curtis is tied for 114th place shooting one more shot than Caldwell.
Mekus birdied on his second hole and bogeyed on his fifth, sixth, eighth and 13th holes. His second round tee time is Friday at 7:30 a.m.
“The course is in great shape and the greens are lighting fast,” Mekus said. “I just missed in the right places today. Just had trouble putting the ball in the hole.”
Caldwell bogeyed on his first hole, birdied on the second and third and wouldn’t do so again until the 15th hole. He either made par or double bogeyed the rest of the way.
“I played very poorly today,” Caldwell said, who’ll tee off at 8:40 a.m. Friday. “I didn’t execute in any facet of the game. There were many good scores though. I don’t think the course was unexpectedly hard. It was long and tough but it was fair.”
Curtis made a 12 on his last hole for a double bogey, birdied on the fourth and 17th holes and finished the day with an 86.
“It left a bitter taste. It doesn’t feel good at all because it’s not how I wanted or expected to play,” Curtis said. “It was one of my worst scores of the past couple of years.”
He’ll look to separate himself from the pack in his second round performance at 9 a.m. Friday.
“Tomorrow I’m going to have to play very well to make the cut. I will just try to make as many birdies as I can.”