AGC San Diego Amateur: Logjam at the Top After Round One

CARLSBAD, Calif. (December 17, 2018) -- We promised you perfect weather, but we didn't say the golf course was easy. At The Park Hyatt Aviara Golf Club this month, the weather has been so dry that the conditions are closer to summer than winter. That means fast, firm, undulating greens where two-putting from any distance can be a challenge. In the Championship division, there are seven players tied for the lead, a possible AmateurGolf.com record. Rather than list all of their names, we will tell you about one of them that had anything but a boring day. Stanford golfer Ashwin Arasu (San Diego) had 7 birdies on his round, five of them on a back nine where he fired 4-under 32. Ashwin had started on No. 6, and after making his final back nine birdie on the challenging 18th, he suffered a triple bogey on No. 1 and a bogey on No. 2 to take the wind out of his sails, but bounced back with a birdie on No. 3, and a par on his final hole, the par-5 5th. With so many players in striking distance (including four more who posted 3-over 75) the tournament is wide open for the taking on Monday. WOMEN'S, SENIOR DIVISIONS Jaime Jacob fired even par 72 to pace the Women's Division. Jacob (Encinitas) is one of four players in the field from the Cal State San Marcos women's golf team. A shot back after a 1-over 73 is Amy Matsuoka (Newport Beach) while 2015 champion Sarah Lawrence (Duvall, Wash.) is two back after a 2-over 74. Bruce Loman of Newport Coast posted a 3-over 75 to take a two shot lead into the final round over Jim Ream of Cerritos. Defending champ Ed Susolik of Newport Beach is six shots back after an 81. But don't count anyone out, especially Susolik. Last year he grabbed the title by following up a first round 80 with a 3-under 69 in the final round. Monday's final round is again an 8:00am shotgun; pairings can be accessed using the links at the top of the page.