After Fryatt logged a nine-birdie, no-bogey round of 63 at Las Vegas Golf Club on Saturday to take the first-round lead, Sodetz lurked three shots away with a bogey-free 66 of his own. On Sunday, Sodetz, a high school junior, did his opponent one better. He had 10 birdies – but one bogey – to post a 63 of his own.
Sodetz’s round included a run of five consecutive birdies after the turn from Nos. 1-5 (Sodetz started on No. 10).
Sodetz finished at 15 under for the weekend, which left him one shot ahead of Hazen Newman in second. Fryatt, who came back with a 68 on Sunday, was 13 under.
Michael Sarro and Kenny Ebalo rounded out the top 5 at 9 under.
ROUND ONE
Birdies were out there Saturday at Las Vegas Golf Club. The leader after the first round of the Las Vegas City Amateur had made nine of them.
That man was Edward Fryatt, and he didn’t make a single bogey Saturday in his 9-under 63. Interestingly, Fryatt, who reached match play at the U.S. Mid-Amateur last month, is a reinstated amateur who formerly owned the PGA Tour record for most consecutive birdies. Fryatt had eight in a row at Doral. At Las Vegas Golf Club, he only ever put together three in a row, but he did have seven on the front nine to turn in 29.
Behind Fryatt, Kenny Ebalo also had a bogey-free round. Ebalo got to 6-under 66, which left him tied for second with Brett Sodetz, Hazen Newman and Philip Rowe. Both Ebalo, who also competed in the U.S. Mid-Amateur in September, and Sodetz were bogey-free.
Rowe is the assistant men’s golf coach at UNLV. He was T-38 at the Sunnehanna Amateur this summer.
The top 24 players on the leaderboard were under par on Saturday. Andrew Jung, who won last year’s event at 15 years old, is not in the field.