Story by Bailey Arredondo of AmateurGolf.com
17-year-old Edan Cui of Atherton, Calif., and Nathaniel Frink of La Crescenta, Calif., shot opening rounds of 6-under 66 to sit at the top of the leaderboard at the Christmas Classic at Del Monte Golf Club. Cui, a Stanford commit, saw a dream start and birdied five of his first six holes en route to a 31 on the back nine.
Cui finished with a clean scorecard, while Frink rattled off six birdies of his own and one bogey. Playing out of La Crescenta and working at Bayonet & Blackhorse, Frink birdied holes No. 11, 13, 16, 17.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing and give all glory to god,” said Frink, following his round. “Keep it simple and just play golf.”
He would then bogey No. 7 and bounce back with a birdie, birdie finish on to tie the lead.
Only eight players were under par after Saturday’s round. Cui has been on a hot streak the last couple of weeks, finishing third in the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions on November 23rd.
William Chang of Danville, Calif., Sam Higaki of San Mateo, Calif., and Kayden Wang of San Diego, Calif., are T3 at 3-under to round out the top five.
In the Senior Division, Steve Nichols of East Lansing, Mich., leads by one shot at 2-under over Vince Price of Portland, Ore., who is in solo second place at 1-under. Jordan Hashimoto of Danville, Calif., is the low mid-amateur at 1-under.
Nicole Iniakov of Prunedale, Calif., is the low women's scorer at 2-over and holds a three-shot lead in the division.
Be sure to stay with AmateurGolf.com for tomorrow’s final-round coverage.