Carson Johnson of Signal Mountain, Tenn., embraced the cold and windy conditions to shoot a bogey-free 5-under 66 for the first-round lead in the St. Augustine Amateur golf tournament.
The temperature was in the high 40s and winds gusting to 15-20 mph under cloudy skies early Friday made for a start full of wool caps, multiple layers of clothing and fast and firm greens. Only four players broke par and 22 shot 80 or above in the 76-player starting field on a trying day, especially with tee times scheduled through mid-morning.
Johnson’s bogey-free round included birdies on the par-5 fourth in shooting 34 on the front nine and birdies on No. 10, 15, 16, and 17 to come into the clubhouse at 32. Johnson holds a one-stroke lead over Danny Erickson of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.,, a redshirt freshman at North Florida who had five birdies and one bogey in his 4-under 67.
Jason Duff of Elkton, Fla., a University of North Florida senior who grew up in a house right off the St. Johns Golf Club’s first fairway, made birdies on two of the last four holes to shoot 2-under 69.
Justin Sui of Lake Orion, Mich., a 20-year-old who attends the University of Florida, was the only other player under par with five birdies and four bogeys for a 70.
“The back nine, definitely, the putter got going a little bit,” Johnson told the St. Augustine Amateur communications team. “The greens run so good here and my home club has some similarities to these greens. That definitely helped. It wasn’t as hard to learn.
Johnson added, “As for the weather, it’s just not thinking about it. Some guys are gonna hate those conditions. My coach is big on accepting what it’s giving you. I did a good job of that – really not trying to do too much.”
Johnson is a senior on the Chattanooga golf team, and the 21-year-old was the Southern Conference golfer of the week on Oct. 30 after finishing a career-best 2-under and T24 at the Steelwood Intercollegiate on Oct. 27 in Alabama.
The St. Augustine Amateur contributed to this report