Pieri, Merkel share lead at Indiana Amateur
CARMEL, Indiana (June 20, 2012) -- This morning at the Indiana Amateur Championship at Prairie View Golf Club, Sean Rowen stepped up to the first tee confidently, with a one-shot lead over Joe Gasser and a two-shot lead over Todd Palmer. With a bogey on one, the day immediately took a turn for Rowen. Instead, the group to follow proved to be that of Scott Pieri and Tyler Merkel.
As the day progressed, Pieri seemed to be the steady frontrunner and was three-under par through 12 holes. However, on hole 13 Pieri was penalized two shots for giving a spectator, a former Ball State teammate of his, a ride in his golf cart.
The Indiana Golf Association has a rule prohibiting anyone but tournament competitors to be in motorized golf carts. “That rule has been in place for several years,” said IGA Executive Director, Mike David. “It’s unfortunate that Scott was not aware of the rule. The rule is designed to make the experience of playing in our events more enjoyable. Scott certainly didn’t gain any advantage by giving someone a ride, but a rule is a rule. Hopefully it won’t affect the outcome of the event,” he added.
Pieri has not played in many IGA events, but still he said, “It’s up to me to know the rules and was 100 percent my fault. At the time I didn’t think it was a big deal, but it is a rule.”
Despite Pieri’s penalty, he still remained in the lead at one-under par through 13 holes, and maintained this score for the remainder of his round.
Coming on strong simultaneously was Tyler Merkel, who currently plays for Ball State. Merkel was even through 16 holes and his birdie on 17 gave him a share of the lead. Both players hit the fairway on 18, laid up behind the creek, hit their approach shots to the center of the green, and two-putted for par, finishing tied at one-under for the day.
“I played a solid round of golf,” said Pieri. I drove the ball in play and I putted nicely. I hope to go out and do the same thing tomorrow.” Merkel also kept the ball in play off the tee but missed a couple of short putts.
"I haven’t really thought about the possibility of winning yet," said Merkel. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but it would be big. Great players have won this tournament in the past.”
Merkel and Pieri will play in the same group again tomorrow, along with David Mills, a player from Indiana University.
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ABOUT THE Indiana Amateur
District Qualifiers for non-exempt players.
18-hole qualifier, 72-hole championship. Players must
have an Indiana address and a handicap of no greater
than 9.9.
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