Stocker Cup: Exber leads by three heading into final round

by Rich Davison, for AmateurGolf.com

SONOMA, Calif. (October 23, 2014) -- Calm conditions at day one of the Stocker Cup brought the average score down and led to a few more under par rounds than day one, but when the dust settled, no one could overtake first round leader Brady Exber, (Las Vegas) who carded an even-par 72 which he described as “scruffy” to sit atop the leaderboard with a 140 total. The biggest move of the day came from Green Valley’s Jeff Wilson, who carded a great 69 to move into 2nd place with a 143 along with Herbie Aikens who carded a 2nd round 73. The popular 145 number (1-over) sees both Nick Ushijima of Japan and Brad Wilder of Kentucky (who each had 71’s) plus Jerry Ledzinski of Carmel and Steve Schroeder who resides in Lake Tahoe. Other under-par rounds in the 2nd round belonged to Edward Sanchez and Joe Sanders, who each carded 70’s and defending champion John Sawin and Jason Anthony with 71’s.

TEAM COMPETITION

In the Team competition, Exber and his partner Jim Fisher lead both the net and gross divisions, with a score of 124 and 132 respectively. This gives them a 3-shot lead in the net over the team of Bryan Hoops and Chris Strahan after their rounds of 67 – 60. Ushijima and his partner Andrew Doll round out the top-3 in the net with a 64-64 total. Sitting in 2nd place in the gross is Jerry Ledzinski and Pete Wlodkowski with a 132 total; highlighted by Wlodkowski’s chip- in eagle 3 on No. 16. “I hit it to 10 feet there yesterday and missed it, so it was nice to chip in today, that hole really fits my eye,” said the AmateurGolf.com founder. It was the back-9, which the duo played first, where they tore it up with a 30. Warren Vickers and Jim Marsh combined for a 136 total for 3rd while Shane Sigsbee and Erik Stocker sit in 4th with a 138 total. .

On the skins side of things, only one skin was won in the 2nd round and that went to Ledzinski with a birdie on the difficult par-4 15th.

The team cut fell at 134 and ties for the net division and 140 and ties in the gross division. B Players not making the cut will play a 1-day stableford event on Friday.