Paysse on top halfway through the Pacific Coast Amateur

William Paysse followed up an opening round 4-under 67 with another 67 today to grab a one-shot lead after two rounds of the 55th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, hosted this week at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Paysse entered the day one shot off the lead. He bogeyed the first hole, and made five birdies and 12 pars across the remaining 17 holes.

“I’m driving it really well out here,” said Paysse, “I haven’t made too many mistakes off the tee, so it’s been stress-free, and I got the putter going today.”

“I really like how out here, if you keep it in play, you can shoot some really good scores. It’s definitely demanding off the tee and there are some good slopes on the greens, but I feel like I’ve managed it pretty well so far.”

Paysse is the No. 257-ranked amateur in the world (WAGR). He’s a rising senior on the Texas A&M men’s golf team and this past season he made the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Last year he advanced to the match-play round of 64 at the U.S. Amateur.

Sam Sommerhauser of Lincoln, Calif. and Max Herendeen of Bellevue, Wash. sit in a tie for second place, one shot back of Paysse.

First-round leader Ryan Burnett of Chapel Hill, N.C. followed up yesterday’s round of 66 with an even-par 71 today. He enters the third round three shots off the pace in a tie for seventh.

Four players tied for the low round of the day with a 6-under 65, including Elite Amateur Series point leader Caleb Surrat of Indian Trial, N.C., Parker Edens of Fort Collins, Colo., AJ Ewart of Coquitlam, British Columbia and Spencer Tibbits of Vancouver, Wash. Surratt, who has three top-five finishes in five previous Elite Amateur Series events, sits three shots off the lead in a tie for seventh.

A total of 29 players in the 87-player field sit at even-par or better after two rounds.

Morse Cup

In the Morse Cup competition, the trio from the Northern California Golf Association (NCGA) captured the team title for the second time in three years. The team comprised of Ryan Burnett, Sam Sommerhauser and Brian Stark of Kingsburg, Calif. finished at 12-under par after two rounds.

The team from the Colorado Golf Association (CGA) finished in second place at 6-under par.

The Morse Cup team competition takes place concurrently during the first two days of the championship. There are 15 member Pacific Rim golf associations that comprise the Pacific Coast Golf Association, and each golf association selects three players to represent them in this team competition. Two of the top three scores from each team in rounds one and two will count for the Morse Cup portion of the event.