Karl Vilips moves to the top of Sunnehanna leaderboard

Karl Vilips is at the head of the pack as the 68th Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament of Champions hits the halfway mark. Vilips, a sophomore-to-be at Stanford who was the only player to appear in every tournament for the Cardinal this spring, toured Sunnehanna Country Club in 5-under 65 on Thursday to finish 36 holes in 7-under par 133.

Vilips, who was born in Jakarta, Indonesia but calls Perth, Western Australia home, will take a two-stroke lead into Friday’s third round. Jerry Ji (Hoofddorp, Netherlands), who was tied for the lead with Steinlechner when the day began, is at 4-under par 136 after an even-par 70. He’s joined at that figure by Ian Siebers (Bellevue, Wash.) who finished with a 69.

Michael Thorbjornsen (Wellesley, Mass.) and Trent Phillips (Inman, S.C.) are both at 3-under par 137 after rounds of 65 and 68, respectively. Logan McAllister (Oklahoma City), Frankie Capan (North Oaks, Minn.), James Imai (Brookline, Mass.) Luke Sample (New York), and Travis Vick (Houston) are all at 138. Sample recorded the low round of the tournament, a 63.

Nine additional players are at 139. Defending champion Preston Summerhays is at 143 after a 72.

On a day that featured temperatures around 70 degrees with low humidity and pleasant breezes, Vilips, got off to an impressive start by recording birdies on two of his first three holes before going on to make the turn in 4-under par 31. He went on to birdie the 11th and 12th before making bogey at the par-5 15th, the only blemish on his scorecard.

Steinlechner experienced an up-and-down round, one that featured five birdies and four bogeys. He birdied the 18th to move into second place alone.

A total of 25 players bettered par on Thursday, as compared to 19 on Wednesday.