Defending champ Bauchou gets early Canadian Am lead

DUNCAN, British Columbia (Aug. 6, 2018) – Zach Bauchou is aiming for a title defense at the Canadian Amateur, and so far, he’s off to a good start. The Oklahoma State senior came out of the gate at Duncan Meadows Country Club with a 6-under 65 that gave him an immediate two-shot cushion. The round tied the course record at Duncan Meadows.

Bauchou’s margin can be attributed to his exceptionally strong finish. He birdied No. 16, eagled the par-5 17th then ended with one more birdie at No. 18. Bauchou also eagled the opening hole, another par 5. His lone bogey came at No. 7, a par 3.

"I was making some nice putts and hitting my irons really well,” said Bauchou. “My round kind of fizzled off at the end—I missed a short putt and stopped making some putts. But 65 is still a solid round and it’s a good start.” A year ago, the Canadian Amateur win capped a stellar summer for Bauchou that included a T-3 at the Southern Amateur, a T-3 at the Sunnehanna and a trip to the final 16 at the North & South Amateur.

This summer has been similarly successful, but Bauchou is still lacking a win. He made the quarterfinals at the North and South and was T-8 at the Sunnehanna.

A string of Canadian flags make up the next section of the leaderboard. The next five players after Bauchou are all Canadians, and are tied for second at 4 under. That group includes Andrew Harrison, Kaleb Gorbahn, Julien Sale, Joey Savoie and Olivier Menard.

Four more players are tied for seventh another shot back, including Philip Knowles, the 2017 Players Amateur champion.

Cameron Young, the Wake Forest player who won the 2018 Westchester Open and 2017 New York State Open, is part of a tie for 11th, and still within striking distance at 2 under.