Parker Mapes has an easy way about him. 

The Cal Poly junior from Pleasanton found San Francisco's TPC Harding Park easier than the rest of the field today, too. In today's first round of the 36-hole medal play portion of the San Francisco City Championship,

Mapes shot 4-under 68 with just a single blemish on the card, a double bogey on the short par-4 7th where he lost a ball in the wet, thick rough. But he didn't whine about it during or after the round.

"It would have been nice to find that one," said Mapes. "Kind of a bad break I guess."

As it turned out, Mapes went from 2-under to even par quickly with that double. But it's how you react to adversity on the course that matters. Mapes went on to par the difficult par-3 8th, then eagled No. 9 to shoot 34 on the front nine. He was flawless the rest of the way in, adding two more birdies for a second 34 on the back to post the only round in the 60's at either of the two courses on Saturday.

Mapes said he hopes to go all the way last year, after being taken out in the first round of match play in 2023.

On Sunday, players will flip-flop to play the course they didn't today, which means Mapes will head over to the Presidio, where the parking lot is perched atop a hill in perfect view of Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay below. The course provides an urban view of San Francisco's hilly neighborhoods -- its rolling terrain makes drainage more difficult during the extremely wet Northern California winter.

Staying in play is paramount at both courses and especially important at Presidio, where grass as tall as a foot makes traipsing through the forest after a wayward ball more of a fishing expedition than a rescue mission. 

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Christian Quint of Loomis (Northeast of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada foothills) managed to stay in play and record some birdies on his way to a 2-under 70, which puts him in excellent shape and heading into the second round.

Quint, who just turned 45, is a seasoned tournament player who qualified for the NCGA and U.S.Mid-Amateur in 2023. He made it to the final 32 at "The City" in both 2021 and 2022. 

Five additional players shot 1-under 71. Luis Terraza of Santa Rosa, Mason Browning of San Mateo, and Nikolia Friedman of Mill Valley posted their rounds at Harding Park, while Matthew Lin of Orinda and 2016 champion Daniel Connolly of San Francisco played Presidio. 

After tomorrow's second round of stroke play, the field will be cut to 64 players who will advance to match play, with a playoff at Harding Park at 4:00 pm determining the final positions if required.

After today's round, there are 65 players at 5-over or better.