South Beach International: McCoy takes lead, Imai aces par four

A perfect chamber of commerce day met the 204 contestants for the opening round of the2020 South Beach International Amateur at Miami Beach and Normandy Shores golf clubs on Saturday. And the field which includes a record number of highly-ranked players responded by painting the leaderboard red. Sixty-two players went under par on day one. Leading in the clubhouse with a six-under-par 65 at Miami Beach Golf Club is University of Denver junior Cal McCoy. McCoy was 3 under on both nines and overcame a double bogey on the par 4 13th by finishing birdie-par-birdie.

What a view from the 17th tee ⁦@MiamiBeachGC⁩ great conditions leads to great scoring on day 1 pic.twitter.com/6B07gzCqbU

— SBIA (@SBIA_Official) December 19, 2020

Georgia Southern standout Jake Maples scored the best round of the day at Normandy Shores Golf Club with a 5-under 65. He is joined by Furman's Harper Keller and Arkansas State's Julian Sale of France who shot 66 at Miami Beach Golf Club. There are 18 more players within 3 strokes of the leader. The shot of the day was easy enough to choose as Northwestern’s James Imai recorded an albatross on the par 4 16th. With a 285 yard carry all over water Imai’s drive carried the hazard and rolled all the way from the front to the back of the green, and right into the hole for an ace. Imai’s 67 leaves him 2 shots of the lead. Play continues tomorrow at 7:20am at Miami Beach and 7:30am at Normandy Shores. With another perfect weather day expect scores to once again go low. After tomorrow’s round, 72players plus ties will make the cut from the field of 204. Due to Covid-19 restrictions only members of the two clubs and player family members are permitted on site to view the tournament this year. Everyone on property is required to follow all Covid-19 protocols and procedures.