Wilshire Country Club
(Wilshire Country Club Photo)

Robert Blair of Palm Desert took the lead this afternoon, shooting a superb 68, bringing his two-day total to 138 – 4-under par and four strokes ahead of the rest of the field.

“I couldn’t have hit the ball any better,” said Blair. “I hit 17 greens today, with only two little yips on the front nine.”

Blair has only missed four greens in the past two days of play, most shots landing within 15-feet of the hole, leaving himself manageable putts. In the first two rounds of action, he has eight birdies.

The leaderboard contains some familiar senior amateur names, including the recognizable Casey Boyns who holds a number of championship titles under his belt, including multiple NCGA Senior Amateur Championships.

Rounding out the top four is a three-way tie for T2 between Chris Wood, Boyns and 2015 SCGA Senior Player of the Year John Pate – all sitting at even par.

Pate placed second in last year's event, finishing just 1 stroke behind defending champion Gary Vanier. Pate had held the lead all tournament long until the final turn last year when Vanier snatched the title with an incredible final back nine – carding six birdies in seven holes.

Pate, a resident of Santa Barbara, admits he prefers last year’s tournament – close to home and on a familiar course – but says, “this [Wilshire CC] is a good venue.”

“I played late both days and the greens are fast even from two or three feet out, but luckily I’ve made most of them,” says Pate.

Players with a two-day total of 153 or below make up the top 33 players and ties (for a total of 38) players advancing into Wednesday’s final round. They will complete an 18-hole round to finish this 54-hole tournament.

Tomorrow, players will get an early start with the first tee time set for 7 a.m. Stay tuned to scga.org for live scoring throughout the day.

ROUND ONE RECAP

Editors Note: Story by amateurgolf.com staff

Rich Simonin grabbed a three-stroke lead with a 4-under 67 on the first day of play at the Southern California Senior Amateur. Four players will begin the second round at 1-under and in second place.

Simonin, from Riverside, CA made his only slip up of the day when he bogeyed the first hole. However, on the next hole he got the shot back with his first birdie. Following a a string of pars Simonin headed to the back-nine even for the day.

On the homeward nine Simonin became a different golfer birdieing four holes as he stormed to the clubhouse with a 4-under 32. Simonin carded birdies on 10, 12, 14 ad 16.

The quartet of players tied for second include Chris Wood, Robert Blair, John Pate and Michael Turner. Four additional players are tied for sixth at even-par.

View results for SCGA Senior Amateur