Pang battles wind to lead AmateurGolf.com Pacific Grove City

Three distinct playing conditions greeted contestants at Pacific Grove Golf Links on Saturday. Early tee times enjoyed the morning calm, middle-of-the-pack groups fought the increasing winds, and late pairings watched the fog roll in from the Pacific Ocean.

Darren Pang fell into the second category, as he fired his first tee shot at 8:50 a.m. and likely experienced more brisk winds than most of the field, particularly on the exposed but picturesque back nine. After circling back-to-back 2s on his scorecard at the 9th and 10th, the San Ramon native steadily braved the inward nine’s all-too-typical conditions with eight consecutive pars. His 3-under par 67 leads the AmateurGolf.com Pacific Grove City Championship by a shot over playing partner Nathan Wang.

The left-handed Wang, who will play for the University of California in the fall, bogeyed the closing par-4 to drop a shot behind Pang. Also making 5 at the 18th was third-place JJ West, who managed four birdies on the difficult back nine en route to his opening 69. Though two back in the Championship Flight, West paces the mid-amateur contingent by five over Jerry Ledzinski and Travis Rowney.

The Senior Division experienced the infamous peninsula fog as visibility suddenly diminished for longer tee shots. First-round leader Daniel O’Connor was on the 12th tee box when the marine layer engulfed the challenging par-5. He would go on to make his third birdie of the day, finishing his round at even-par with a one-stroke advantage over Jeff Weiss and Charles Richesin, the latter of whom is atop the Super Senior leaderboard by one over Craig Calkins.

John Barnes posted 70 and leads the Net Division one ahead of Stephen Mort, whose costly double on 18 canceled out a net-eagle on 16.