West Texas Amateur: Artac races out to early lead
Wichita Falls, Texas (July 18, 2014) -- Wes Artac of Kingwood shot 5-under-par 66 in the first round of the 86th West Texas Amateur, at Wichita Falls Country Club, on Friday and leads the Open division.
Artac made two birdies on the front nine and four on the back to finish at 5-under. Burleson's Colby Webb made four birdies in his first nine holes and added two more in his second nine, finishing at 3-under 68, good for second place. Drew Jones is tied for third with Colton Kowalick and defending champion Logan Philley at 2-under, while Josh Radcliff, Matt Porter and John Dowdall are all tied for sixth at 1-under.
"I really like this tournament, hopefully tomorrow I can make some more putts," said Philley after his round.Radcliff began his round with birdies on holes No. 1 and 2 and an eagle on No. 6, but double bogey on Nos. 5 and 14 hurt the UT Arlington golfer.
"Going into tomorrow I'll have the same plan as the first day, just maybe a fewer mistakes," said Radcliff after his first round.
This event features three different divisions: Open, Senior and Super Senior.
Montgomery's Tom McGraw and Abilene's Conway Jordan posted opening round scores of 1-under 70 and lead the Senior division by one stroke over Chris Larsen from Houston. Mike Peck, Hollis Sullivan and Vern Spurlock are each tied for fourth at 1-over entering the second round.
Bill Holstead leads the Super Senior division after shooting 1-under-par 70 in the first round, followed by Harold Speer at even par and Michael Hastings at 2-over.
Holstead, who is a native of Wichita Falls, won the 1970 Texas State Amateur Championship at Great Southwest Country Club. He was also a full-time player on the Champions Tour in 2001, playing in 26 events and finishing tied for 28th in the Turtle Bay Championship. Holstead has competed in 10 U.S. Amateurs and four U.S. Mid-Amateurs in his career, making it to the quarterfinals in the 1987 Mid-Amateur.
View results for West Texas Amateur
ABOUT THE West Texas Amateur
Eligibility: Entries are open to male amateur golfers
who reside in either region (North/South) of the
state of Texas.
Applicants must have a certified GHIN Handicap
Index of 10.0 or less. Senior division players must be
55 years of
age as of the first round of tournament play. Super
Senior players must be 65 years of age as of the first
round of
tournament play.
Format/Field Size and Cut: The championship will be
contested over 54 holes of stroke play with three (3)
divisions;
Championship, Senior and Super Senior. Each
division will play from separate tees/yardages and
separate
champions will be recognized in each division.
At the conclusion of 36 holes the field will be cut to
the low 72 players (and ties), with a pro-rated
representation
from each division. The pro-rated allocation of
players making the cut from each division will be
reflective of the
number of players in each division, relative to the
total field size. The determination of total field size,
number of
players in each division and pro-rated representation
of players making the cut (before ties) will be
announced in
conjunction with pairings being posted.
The field is limited to 144, as outlined below:
Championship: Open (84 players)
Senior: 55 & Over (42
players)
Super Senior: 65 & Over (18 players)
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