Northern Cal Pub Links: Stone leads by three
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (April 25, 2011) -- Joshua Stone of Swenson Park GC has a three-shot lead after the first round of the 46th Annual NCGA Public Links Championship. Stone fired a 3-under 69 at Spyglass Hill on Monday giving him a solid lead on the rest of the field.
His closest competition is Matt Cohn alone in second after an even-par 72. Close behind in a tie for third includes two-time public links winner and defending -champion Scott Hardy at 1-over after 18 holes of play. Also in contention is the perennial Casey Boyns at 2-over, who has won this event four times (’81, ’83, ’87, and ’96), the most of any player.
Stone had a scorecard flooded with seven birdies, three on the front (1, 7 and 8), and four on the back (10, 11, 16 and 17). His 69 could have been much lower if it weren’t for a couple of miscues during his back nine. Stone who started his round off of the 10th tee, came to fourth hole at 4-under par when he then double-bogeyed the par 4 and bogeyed the fifth dropping him back at 1-under through 15 holes. He rallied though by birdying 7 and 8 to finish at 3-under.
Leading the President’s division is Dale Richards, who shot a 5-under net 67. In the Director’s division there is a two-way tie for first at 5-under net 67, those players are Ahmed Shah and Joyce Glatt.
The final round of the championship will be tomorrow at Spyglass Hill.
ABOUT THE NCGA PubLinks
The NCGA Public Links Championship began in 1966
at Spyglass Hill and is the premier event for the
public-course
player. The tournament has always included a
championship flight for players with handicap
indexes of 5.4 or less and
two handicap divisions for players with no handicap
limit. Contestants
must be bona fide public
course players
who do not hold playing privileges in any course
from which the general public is excluded.
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