Lecroy leads at state
- Updated: July 29, 2015
Donoho ninth-grader leads age group by 1; White Plains’ Lane makes eagle in second straight 74
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
MOBILE — Jacob Lecroy rode out a 104-minute weather delay in the comfort of the clubhouse before starting his round and shot 2-under-par 70 in comfortable post-storm conditions to grab the lead in his age division at the 70th Boys State Junior Championship.
The Donoho ninth-grader stands at 2-under 142 after 36 holes at Azalea City Golf Course. He holds a one-shot lead over Austin Coggin of Vestavia Hills in the 14-15 division and a two-shot edge over Connor Newton of Auburn.
“This is a big tournament,” Lecroy said. “There are a lot of good players in it I know. I’m happy to be in the position I’m in.”
White Plains senior Trevor Lane made the cut in the 16-18 division. He is at 4-over148 after back-to-back 74s and tied for 18th.
Lecroy had barely made it to the practice green when officials blew the siren to bring in the players. He spent the entire delay sitting in a cushy chair talking with White Plains teammates Lane and Drennen Beam.
He admitted being a little stiff when he returned to the course, but started par, par, birdie. He had five birdies in his round, including chip-ins on the two hardest holes on the course, and birdied three of his final seven holes to surge up the leaderboard.
He turned in 1-under after chipping in for birdie at 9, bogeyed 10 and 11, drew back to even with a birdie on 12, then birdied the par-5 15th – the longest hole on the course — and closed with a chip-in birdie on 18.
Lane’s round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 second – his 11th hole of the day. He hit a hybrid from 236 yards to 10 feet and made the putt to get back to even par for the day.
“It was hot and I had a little wind behind me, so I pulled out a hybrid and said I’m just going for it,” he said. “If I missed it I’ll get up-and-down for birdie. I bombed it and it was perfect. It was a confidence builder, for sure.”
Lane has made eight birdies and an eagle in two days, but doesn’t have a lot to show for it.
“I know everybody says that, but I feel like I definitely, definitely left some out there,” he said.
Unlike Lecroy who was never impacted by the delay, Beam barely got his round started when he had to come back to the clubhouse. And it did impacted his play.
He bogeyed the first hole, got called in off the course, and when he went back out made double bogeys on each of his first three holes. He shot 10-over on the side, but bounced back with a birdie and two bogeys on his homeward nine.
“It kind of got to me,” he said of the interruption delay. “I tried to get back into it and couldn’t get anything going.”
ACES IN THE CROWD: Roscoe Griffith scored his eighth hole-in-one Friday at Stoney Brook when he holed out on No. 2 from 145 yards with a 9-iron. It came on the eve of 70th birthday.
All of his aces have come at the Jacksonville course.
It got us to thinking. Where are the easiest holes to ace in Calhoun County? Anecdotally, the leading candidates are No. 2 at Stoney Brook and No. 7 at Anniston Municipal, but what do you think?
Two other aces you might have missed were reported at Cane Creek by Frank Cobb (No. 6) and Jack Mahaffey (No. 3).
All the reported aces are listed at the East Alabama Sports Today website under its Aces In The Crowd feature.
By the way, the holes-in-one scored by Ty Cole and Jonathan Bennett in the Sunny King Charity Classic that netted them $20,000 towards the purchase of a car does not compromise their amateur status.
They would have in the past, but the governing bodies of golf amended that rule as it relates to hole-in-one prizes offered during the course of tournament play. Prize awarded for aces scored in Shooting-For-A-Million, big-money putts or shots and similar contests still are not exempt from the amended rule.
So where are the easiest aces?
70th BOYS STATE JUNIOR
at Azalea City GC, Mobile
(Leaders and local)
14-15 Division
Jacob Lecroy, Anniston 72-70—142
Austin Coggin, Vestavia Hills 70-73—143
Connor Newton, Auburn 71-73—144
Andrew Graves, Mobile 72-73—145
Others
x-Charlie Smith, Anniston 99-100—199
16-18 Division
William Buhl, Fairhope 69-67—136
Jake DeZoort, Tuscaloosa 67-71—138
Alex Green, Point Clear 74-66—140
Carden McCay, Trussville 68-73—141
Others
Trevor Lane, Anniston 74-74—148
x-Drennen Beam, Lincoln 76-83—159
x-Noah Huckeba, Oxford 90-82—172
12-13 Division
Evans Gross, Birmingham 71-73—144
Mac Scott, Birmingham 72-75—147
Will Klecka, Huntsville 75-75—150
Dawson Garrett, Fort Payne 74-76—150
x-Failed to qualify
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