Garrett May (Northeast Am/Twitter photo)
To look at Garrett May’s first-round card from the Northeast Amateur, you might think the Baylor player had a perfect day. May opened the week at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, R.I., with a bogey-free 6-under 63.
May, who recently finished his senior season with the Bears, says there’s no such thing as a blemish-free day.
“You don’t have a round that’s perfect or that’s flawless, but this one was as close to flawless as I’ve gotten in awhile,” he said.
May had three birdies on each side in his opening round. He set up one at No. 6 with a deft wedge into the green, then got up and down from short of No. 7 green to avoid giving it right back. He holed out from the front right bunker on No. 8 for another birdie to make the turn in 31.
“Those were bonuses,” he said.
May spent the back nine playing to the middle of greens and not taking any major risk. He’ll take the same game plan into the second round despite having the lead. LSU’s Trey Winstead is only a shot behind him.
“I didn’t have an expectation in mind today, you’ve got three more days,” May said. “You can’t win it on the first day.”
May has a bigger purpose this week than just the golf. Before playing last week's Sunnehanna, May's high school golf coach Jay Brewer unexpectedly passed away from pulmonary embolism. He played last week's event right after attending the funeral.
“The finishes don’t matter much to me. I want to honor him. It gives me solace. That’s what is motivating me right now.”
Behind May, Winstead really turned it up on the second half of the day. He birdied No. 8, then birdied Nos. 10, 11, 13 and 14, throwing a bogey in the middle at No. 12. A closing birdie on No. 18 got him to 64.
Behind him, Georgia’s Spencer Ralston had an opening 65 to climb to third. Ralston is playing the Northeast after starts in both the Dogwood and the Sunnehanna. He finished T-5 and T-42 at those events, respectively.
Englishman Bobby Leopold had a 2-under 67 and is part of a four-man tie for ninth. So far, he’s the leading mid-amateur, but Stewart Hagestad, fresh off a U.S. Open start, is one shot back at 1 under.
Also in mid-amateur news, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo opened with 2-over 71 and is tied for 43rd with 19 other players at that number, including former U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Matt Parziale and former Mid-Am runner-up Garrett Rank.
Quotes in this article courtesy of Dalton Balthaser and NortheastAmateur.com.
ABOUT THE Northeast Amateur
The Northeast Amateur has a historic list of winners,
including Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Collin
Morikawa, Luke
Donald,
Scott Hoch, John Cook, Hal Sutton, and David Duval.
It
has been annually held at the Donald Ross-designed
Wannamoisett Country Club since 1962. The event
is
limited to 90 elite players; there is a cut after 54
holes
and the entire tournament is played in twosomes.
View Complete Tournament Information