Edwards, Conley lead in Oxford

[corner-ad id=2]Big tour veterans hold a one-shot lead after firing 68s at Cider Ridge Tuesday

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD — Considering the way it all turned out, Danny Edwards is probably glad he stuck around to the end of the round.

The PGA and Champions Tour veteran made five birdies on the back nine after a frustrating front nearly caused him to withdraw at the turn to shoot 4-under-par 68 and grab a share of the first-round lead in the Oxford Senior Open at Cider Ridge Golf Club.

He was later joined atop the leaderboard by Tim Conley, another PGA and Champions Tour veteran. Together, they share a one-shot lead over Roger Rowland, last week’s Sunbelt Senior Tour winner, and Bob Flanagan. Danny Gonzales and Jim Doing are another shot back.

No one else in the field posted a red under-par number. Gonzales and Rowland both played from the II tees; the other four, including the two leaders, played from the IIIs.

The second round gets underway Wednesday at 8 a.m. Spectators are encouraged to follow.

Edwards’ big back nine, which came after a double-bogey 7 on the easiest hole of the round, almost ended before it began.

The five-time winner on the PGA Tour and veteran of more than 100 career Champions Tour starts was 1-under when he came to the downhill par-5 ninth. Frustration already was oozing from his bag over a series of missed opportunities, but it reached critical mass when he saw the placement of the rakes in the greenside bunker that collected his approach shot and left him an unnecessarily bad lie.

He then thinned the ball out of the bunker, which led to a brief but terse exchange with a newspaper photographer Edwards believed didn’t respond to a request to move from his line of sight prior to the shot.

“Those are the kinds of things when you get 64 years old and you’ve played for 40-50 years on a tour you just get frustrated seeing; stuff that people should know better,” Edwards said. “At this stage of the game I just don’t have very much patience when it happens all the time. We all get poor breaks, we all have putts that miss, but if you feel like you’ve gotten way more than your share of that stuff, it’s not much fun.

“I just about played nine holes is what it did – I was close (to withdrawing) — then I thought, eh, I’ll go ahead and play the back. … I’m glad I stayed around and played.”

The annoyances didn’t stop when he made the turn – his tee shot on 11 found a divot – they just seemed a little more tolerable when you’re making birdies. He made a 20-footer on 11, a 10-footer on 12, then added close ones on 14, 15 and 18.

“I’m like, ‘dude, you should get mad all the time,’” playing partner Doing said.

After exiting the 18th green, both Doing and Edwards went into the greenside bunker there and moved the rakes to a more equitable position.

Conley, a two-time winner on what’s now the Web.com Tour and veteran of nearly 250 PGA-Champions-Web.com starts, played his round bogey-free with two birdies on each side. He was the only player in the field to play the round without a bogey.

He birdied 18 after finding the bunker off the tee to grab his share of the lead and immediately after posting his score went straight to the parking lot to work on his clubs.

“I’m struggling with the driver; I can’t seem to find the right one,” he said as he reached for the components laid out inside his trunk. “It’s been a struggle so I’m going back to a different one again and maybe that’ll help.

“You need uniformity through the set. You can’t just hit a driver that hits great and then get out there and have another club (with something else in it).”

Rowland, who shot 17-under last week winning in Cullman, had his round to 5-under before taking a double bogey at the tight 16th.

He birdied 4, 5 and 9 to turn in 3-under and added birdies on 11 and 13, but 16 ruined his momentum. He was in play off the tee on 16, but played “too safe” with 233 yards to the pin and watched his 5-wood bounce off the cart path and into the right hazard and then didn’t get up and down.

He bounced back with pars on each of the final two holes and will play in the final group Wednesday with Conley and Edwards.

“I feel like I’m starting to figure out how to read these greens,” Rowland said. “I’ve got a feel now of how I have to go about playing this course. You look at a course like this and you think there’s a really deep number out there maybe, but I don’t know anybody is going to go better than 4-under in the first round. It’s a good golf course.”

Gonzales had the shot of the day. He holed a 9-iron from 147 yards on No. 10 for an eagle; he shot 70. Flanagan’s round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 15, which offset the double bogey he made at 2.

This story will be updated.

OXFORD SENIOR OPEN
At Cider Ridge GC
First-round scores

Danny Edwards, Scottsdale, Ariz. 37-31–68
Tim Conley, Braselton, Ga. 34-34–68
Roger Rowland, Ocala, Fla. 33-36–69
Bob Flanagan, Lawrenceville, Ga. 37-32–69
Danny Gonzales, Round Rock, Texas 36-34–70
Jim Doing, Verona, Wis. 36-34–70
Mike Beaver, Newberry, Fla. 36-37–73
John Whitty, Longs, S.C. 37-36–73
Bob Kurtz, Cullman 36-39–75
Jim White, Birmingham 35-40–75
Rob Willbanks, Kilgore, Texas 37-39–76
Randy Kennedy, Buford, Ga. 40-38–78
Dave Pickett, Oliver Springs, Tenn. 38-40–78
Tommy Edwards, Duluth, Ga. 39-41–80
Alan Brezin, Pinson NC
Gibby Gilbert III, Ooltewah, Tenn. WD

Wednesday’s pairings
8:00 a.m. — Dave Pickett, Tommy Edwards
8:09 — Jim White, Rob Willbanks, Randy Kennedy
8:18 — Mike Beaver, Johny Whitty, Bob Kurtz
8:27 — Bob Flanagan, Danny Gonzales, Jim Doing
8:36 — Danny Edwards, Tim Conley, Roger Rowland

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