Elliott leads the AGC San Diego Amateur as Aviara bares its teeth

Jake Elliott (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) shot an even-par 72 to take a two-shot first round lead in the AmateurGolf.com San Diego Amateur at Aviara Golf Club. The site of the LPGA Tour's Kia Classic got the better of the field on Monday, as only the 21-year-old Elliott was able to match par. In fact, less than half of the field broke 80 as the high rough and shifting winds kept par well protected. Elliott offset atwo bogeys and a double with four birdies as he grabbed a two-shot lead over UC-Davis sophomore Shane Muldowney (Carlsbad, Calif.). Muldowney was languishing at 6 over par through 11 holes but rallied for four birdies coming in to put himself in contention. 28-year-old Andrew Thurman (Orange, Calif.) and 18-year-old Daniel Nunez (Los Angeles, Calif.) share third after rounds of 75. Thurman played the 17th and 18th in even par, but in the most unusual of ways--a double bogey at the scoreable par-5 followed by a hole-out eagle on maybe the hardest par-4 on the course. In the Senior Division, Jim Ream (Cerritos, Calif.) shot a 1-over 73 to lead by two shots over Kevin Velligan (Camarillo, Calif.) and Todd Palmaer (Corona del Mar, Calif.). In all, 13 players are within five shots of the lead going into Sunday's final round. Jaime Jacob (Encinitas, Calif.) of Cal San Marcos leads the Women's division by three shots over Marie Dean (Davis, Calif.) of Cal State L.A. The round of the day might just have been turned in by 70-year-old Michael Massery (Del Mar, Calif.), who recorded seven net birdies for a 3-under 69 to lead the Net Division by five shots over James Grieves (San Diego, Calif.). The tournament concludes on Sunday morning with the final round, with the rough freshly cut and hopefully some good numbers in store.