Cody Gribble is the youngest of the 144 players in the 2006 Texas State Amateur Championship, and even though he is playing in his first State Amateur, the 15 year old from Dallas has plenty of tournament experience from playing in numerous junior events. He played like a veteran by shooting a six under par 64 and taking a two shot lead after the opening round of play at Dallas Country Club. Gribble finished his round strong with four birdies over the final five holes, including back to back birdies on his last two holes.
Another teenager playing in his first State Am, Alex Moon of Dallas, played in the morning and posted a four under par 66 to sit atop the leader board most of the day before Gribble’s 64. Moon shares second with Bob Neal of Mansfield, a veteran of several State Amateur Championships. Moon earned one of the final spots in the championship by winning the EDS Byron Nelson Junior Championship last week, and the exemption into the State Amateur that goes with that victory. Neal was in the group right behind Gribble, and was in the lead at six under par, but bogeyed his last two holes to end up at 66.
Five players are tied for fourth three shots off the lead going into round two. Those players include a couple of veterans that have won TGA state titles and were teammates last fall on the Texas team that won the USGA State Team Championship, Alan Hill of Spring Branch and Terrence Miskell of New Braunfels. They shot three under par 67’s and are tied with Jeff Lee of McKinney, Randy Lowry of Spring, and Andrew Landry of Groves. A total of 16 players bested par (70) and thus are within five shots of the lead.
Second round action gets under way at Dallas Country Club, which hosted the first Texas Amateur in 1906, at 7:40 AM Friday. The field will then be cut to the low 54 players and ties after 36 holes.
When the Texas Golf Association was established in February 1906, one of its primary objectives was to stage a “three-day tournament to decide the championship of Texas for men.” Dallas CC, one of the five founding members of the Association (the Country Clubs of Beaumont, Houston, San Antonio and Waco, or Huaco as it was then known, were the others), was chosen as the host site.
Fifty-six players were in the starting field one-hundred-years ago for the inaugural championship won by H.L. Edwards, who was not only a founder of the host club but also happened to be the first president of the newly established Association.
In all, the Dallas Country Club has been host to the state’s most prestigious amateur championship seven times: 1906, 1912, 1915, 1921, 1949, 1956, and 2006. The last year the event was played at Dallas CC was in 1956, when the Association observed its 50th anniversary. David Goldman, Jr. won that year, besting Jim Hiskey in the 36-hole final match by a margin of 2 & 1. The year before David’s father “Spec” Goldman had won at River Oaks CC in Houston, making them the first father-son duo to win the Amateur title.
This is the 97th playing of the Texas Amateur, as no tournaments were held during the war years (1918, 1943-45).
For complete coverage of the Texas State Amateur, visit the TGA website at www.txga.org.
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The Texas State Amateur is an amateurgolf.com
Texas Amateur Rankings points event.
ABOUT THE Texas Amateur
72 hole medal play walking-only championship first
played in 1906. At the completion of 36 holes the field
is cut to the low 54 and ties plus all players within 10
strokes of the lead.
18-hole qualifying rounds are held throughout the state
for players not otherwise exempt into the tournament
proper. Visit the Texas Golf Assocation website for
qualifier information.
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