What Happened
Jude Kim leads the way at the 105th Amateur Championship, as the first round got underway on Thursday at The Bear’s Club and Lost Tree Club. Kim fired a 5-under 67 at Lost Tree to take a one-shot lead over the field.
Kim got the day started with a bogey-free first nine, carding three birdies. The incoming junior at the University of Michigan kept it rolling on his second nine, with back-to-back birdies on the the first and second. He added another on the sixth, with his lone bogey of the day coming on the final hole.
Runchanapong Youprayong, the runner-up at last year’s Amateur, finished just behind Kim at 4-under 68. The incoming junior at University of South Florida fired a bogey-free back nine with three birdies.
The competition is tight at the top of the leaderboard with 28 players sitting within five shots of the lead. Three players sit at 2-under 70: Thomas Christensen, Abbie Valentine and Jason Shwartz.
What’s Next
The second round of the Amateur Championship will begin Friday with a cut to low 70 and ties following the second round.
Notable
- Eighty-four players teed it up at The Bear’s Club, while 84 players teed it up at Lost Tree Club.
- Eighteen players finished the day under par.
- Nathan Bertsch aced the par-3 16th hole at The Bear’s Club.
- Four players finished the first round with six birdies: Garret Ebbert, Marc Dull, Kim and Youprayong.
- The field will be cut to 70 players and ties after tomorrow’s second round.
- Each of the par 72 golf courses played over par for the day. The Bear’s Club played to a 78.48 average score, while Lost Tree Club played to a 75.92 average score.
Quotable
"I feel like I hit my driver pretty well, gave myself a lot of good looks. Short game was really good too. I feel like I did not play the par 5s that well. I putted well today. I am very pleased with how I played." - Runchanapong Youprayong
"The first thing I did really well today was I putted well. Made every short putt that I had while having great speed for my lag putts which is very important out here. The other thing that I did well was I drove the ball pretty accurately. Gave myself some chances on the par 5s to make some birdies." - Jude Kim
"I just played really solid out there, minimized mistakes when I made them. Course is playing really brutal out there, I knew that pars would be really good all day. I am proud of myself for staying steady all day." - Gray Albright
"I think the biggest thing was just being aggressive off of the tee. That is kind of the best part of my game. With how firm and fast the greens are and how tucked some of the pins were, it was kind of a big advantage coming into some of these greens with wedges when other guys were hitting 7 and 8 irons in. Obviously staying patient out here too understanding that." -Carson Enright
"You have to know your miss and find something you can play with and just try to keep it in play. It does not have to be in the fairway, anywhere in play and anywhere around the greens. Try to keep it around par." - Nicklaus Staub
"Got off to a slow start, but I hit the ball really well today. The front nine I had one three putt, missed a couple of putts from five feet, shot two over on the front. And then knocked it inside of five feet four times on the back, so really did not have to make a putt of any length." - Abbie Valentine
