Dixie Amateur: Tour caddie leads by four shots

PGA Tour caddie Mateo Gomez (Weston, Fla.) shot a 2-under 70 to take a four-shot lead at the halfway point of the Dixie Amateur at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla.

The Colombia native and looper for Sebastián Muñoz was one of only four players to break par on a tricky day which saw gusty north winds at the former site of the PGA Tour's Honda Classic.

Gomez, who played his college golf at Lynn University, is the only player in the field to record two under-par rounds. He leads by four over fellow first-round co-leader Alstom Newsom (Chesapeake, Va.) of VCU, who had a 2-over 74 after opening with a 69.

They are the only two players under par through two rounds. Five players are tied for third at even par.

At Palm-Aire Country Club, Ellen Hume of Ole Miss and England shot her second-consecutive 69 to take the 36-hole lead in the Women's Dixie Amateur. Hume has made just two bogeys in the tournament so far, the lowest of any player in the field.

She leads Florida State freshman Taylor Roberts (Parkland, Fla.) by one shot. Roberts has won two amateur tournaments this fall, the FSGA Fall Elite Series at the Mark Bostick Golf Course and the the Golfweek Sandestin Amateur.

University of Virginia freshman Jennifer Cleary (Wilmington, Del.) sits in third place, three shots back at three under par. Stanford commit Megha Ganne (Holdmel, N.J.) and Fresno State senior Brigitte Thibault (Canada) are tied for fourth at 2 under.

ROUND ONE RECAP

Daniela Ballesteros, a Purdue University sophomore from Peru, shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Dixie Women's Amateur at Palm-Aire Country Club in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Playing the Cypress Course at Palm-Aire, Ballesteros had a wild round that included eight birdies (six on the front nine), along with two bogeys and a double.

She takes a one-shot lead over Ellen Hume, an Ole Miss junior from England, whose round was tidier with four birdies against a single bogey.

The women's leaderboard is crowded just below the top two players. Five are at 2-under 70, another three at 1 under, and seven more at even par.

In the men's Dixie Amateur, the leaderboard is even more congested. Two players -- Alston Newsom of VCU and Mateo Gomez, formerly of Lynn University and now a caddie for Sebastián Muñoz on the PGA Tour -- shot rounds of 3-under 69 at Eagle Trace Golf Club, former host site of the PGA Tour's Honda Classic.

They lead a massive group of seven players by one shot, with two more at 1 under. In all, 25 players are within four shots of the lead.

Among those at even par, three shots back, is the defending champion Michael Barnard of Middle Tennessee State University.

104 men and 103 women teed off this week. After 54 holes, the field will be cut to the low 70 and ties for the final round on Sunday.