Saguaro Amateur: Daniel Connolly continues to lead

1/3/2017 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Daniel Connolly at the 2016 San Francisco City <br>(Steve Lewis photo)

With one round remaining at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club 27 players are currently under-par

MARICOPA, AZ (January 3, 2017) -- For the second straight day Daniel Connolly is leading the way at the Saguaro Amateur hosted by the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club. Connolly moved to 9-under-par after the second round and he will begin Wednesday's final round as the two-stroke leader over Spencer Painton. Connolly, a freshman at SMU, followed up an opening day 6-under 66 with a 3-under 69 to maintain his two shot lead. The 2016 San Francisco City champion started his round on No. 10 and opened with a birdie before rolling in another four holes later to move to 8-under. Four straight pars followed setting the stage for some early second nine fireworks that saw Connolly attempt to pull away. First came a birdie on No. 1 and then two more birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 followed that pushed Connolly to 11-under. However, the bogey-free round would come to an end in somewhat surprising fashion as Connolly dropped shots on three of the next five holes to fall all the way back to 8-under. Despite the slip up Connolly was able to rebound and finish his round with a momentum building birdie on the closing hole, the 462 yard par-4 9th. Colorado junior Spencer Painton moved into second place with a 5-under 67 that matched the round of the day. Painton, 7-under, dropped a shot on No. 1 before kicking things into high gear midway through the side with three straight birdies from Nos. 4-6 and then an eagle on the 7th that brought him to 7-under. Heading for home Painton did cool off a bit as he birdied three-times but also bogeyed three-times for an even-par side. Painton will be playing in the final group alongside Connolly on Wednesday. Marty Sanchez and Tanner Hughes (California) are tied for third at 5-under while Zach Smith, Corey Shaun and Jake Staiano are tied for fifth at 4-under.

Results: Saguaro Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Tanner Hughes	Livermore, CA	500	69-70-68=207
T2	Zach Smith	Pleasanton, CA	400	70-70-68=208
T2	Daniel Connolly	San Francisco, CA	400	66-69-73=208
T4	Branson Davis	McKinney, TX	300	70-71-68=209
T4	Spencer Painton	Aurora, CO	300	70-67-72=209

View full results for Saguaro Amateur

About the Saguaro Amateur

54-hole event with field comprised of 108 men’s amateur golfers from all over the United States. Most players are college golfers on winter break. All players must have completed high school by January 1 and must have a handicap of 3.0 or lower. The ...

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