Hot start for Scott Raber at the AG Christmas Classic

On a tough day for scoring at Del Monte Golf Course, Scott Raber made it look easy. He blistered his opening nine to card 31 en route to a 4-under 68 and a one-shot lead at the AmateurGolf.com Christmas Classic presented by Callaway.

Raber, a native of Davis, Calif., birdied five of his first six holes on the back nine and was primed to set the pace for the remainder of an overcast Saturday morning. Maybe seeing an unexpected putt drop was all he needed to kick-start things.

“I stole one on the first hole,” Raber admitted. “I made a 30-ish footer.”

His round was one of just three across all divisions to finish at par or better, with second and third place in the Championship flight rounding out the trio of top scores. Post-round discussions amongst many contestants involved a common theme to make sense of the difficult scoring.

“That’s big out here. It’s their main defense,” Raber said of Saturday’s pin placements on Del Monte’s notoriously small, challenging greens.

University of California-Berkeley freshman Simon Kwon trails Raber by one while Cooper Hunt sits four back after an even-par 72.

In the Senior Division, Cory Synnestvedt of Napa holed out for eagle on 18 to join Corey West atop the leaderboard at one-over 73. Super Senior leader Casey Boyns, the 2007 Championship and 2014 Senior winner at the Christmas Classic, is just a shot back in third at 74.

Marc Sanders and Scott Henrikson share the Net Division lead at 73 with Sylvia Chu trailing by one in third place.

by Conner Penfold, Special to AmateurGolf.com