Knecht leads Ralph Bogart by four after opening 68

NAPLES, Fla. (Dec. 3, 2018) – As the senior amateur season winds down, Mark Knecht leads the way at the Ralph Bogart, the last event on the Society of Seniors 2018 schedule.

Knecht, the Senior Azalea winner from Paducah, Ky., had a 4-under 68 at Hammock Bay. He opened with a bogey, but it was his last one of the day. He followed with five birdies over the next 17 holes. Knecht, 56, enters the Bogart off a T-3 finish at last week’s Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions.

Craig Calkins, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., had the other under-par round on Monday at Hammock Bay, a 2-under 70. He has a two-shot cushion on Jack Kearney of Peachtree City, Ga.

In the super senior division, Jody Vasquez of Aledo, Texas, leads with a 1-under 71 on Hammock Bay. Two players are tied for the lead in the grand masters division. John Baldwin of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Chuck Parsons of Springfield, Ohio, each had 2-over 74 for a one-shot lead on a group of players at 3 over.