All day strong
- Updated: March 23, 2019
Oh, to be young: LeCroy beats his high school peers at Silver Lakes, then comes to Cane Creek and leads the adults
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
If your name was Jacob LeCroy, Saturday was a very fruitful day.
In the early part of the day, LeCroy put together a monumental close over his final seven holes to win medalist honors against his peers in the Glencoe Invitational at Silver Lakes. No sooner had the final putt dropped on that final-round 70 he hot-tailed it over to Cane Creek where he shot 68 to take the first-round lead against the adults in the Cane Creek Invitational.
That’s 36 holes, two courses, one day, 10 birdies, one eagle, 6-under-par – if you’re counting.
He won the high school tournament at Silver Lakes with a monumental finish. There was nothing quite as dramatic at Cane Creek, but he still leads by one.
“I was just having fun playing,” he said. “It wasn’t really anything crazy.”
LeCroy won the high school tournament with birdies on six of his last seven holes. It took him a while to adjust to the Cane Creek greens and he bogeyed his first hole in the second tournament.
He broke through with a “lucky” birdie on 5, made an eagle on 8 (9-iron from 153 yards to 10 feet) and turned in 2-under that had him thinking he could get the lead. Then he had three birdies and a bogey on the back, where he had only 13 putts.
“It took me a few holes to get used to the greens, but once I did I really started putting good out here,” he said. “I used to play out here all the time, but I haven’t played out here in a long time. I just showed up today, but I still remembered it pretty well. I learned a lot for tomorrow.”
Brennan Clay shot a 3-under 69 and was the leader in the clubhouse until LeCroy, Donoho teammate Harrison Hughston and their fathers rolled through in the final group of the day.
Clay hasn’t played much golf since the birth of his son, Atticus Scott, five months ago and hasn’t practiced at all so he wasn’t expecting much from his first tournament round of the year.
He was 3-under at the turn, but couldn’t get anything going on the back. He bogeyed 14 trying to get greedy off the forward tee and recovered the stroke with a birdie at 17.
“I didn’t hit my driver good, but I putted and chipped good,” he said. “I told Jeremy (McGatha) yesterday I was going to play as conservative as possible because I haven’t been playing, haven’t been playing great. I’m very happy with it. It could’ve been a little better, but you can’t mess around on that back nine here.”
Ott Chandler and Caleb Bowen both shot 71 and will complete the leaders foursome in Sunday’s 1 p.m. shotgun start.
Chandler, 54, birdied his first two holes and birdied his last three holes and had a lot of pars in between. The only blemishes were a double bogey on 8 and back-to-back bogeys on 12 and 13.
Bowen described his 71 as a “Jeykll and Hyde” round. He was 2-under after back-to-back birdies on 3 and 4, then bogeyed three holes in a row, stopping the slide with a birdie on 8.
NOTES: Gary Wigington and Justin Graveman of Trussville shot 72 … Chip Howell leads the Senior Flight with 71 … LeCroy’s eagle at 8 was one of four in the round. The others were made by Wigington (hole out from 100 yards on 7), Harrison Hughston (18) and Mike Granato (14) … Every hole was birdied at least once in the round.
FMCU CANE CREEK INVITATIONAL
First-round scores
Championship flight
Jacob LeCroy 34-34—68
Brennan Clay 33-36—69
Ott Chandler 36-35—71
Caleb Bowen 36-35—71
Justin Graveman 37-35—72
Gary Wigington 32-40—72
Jeremy McGatha 38-35—73
Adrian Geeting 36-37—73
Tim Turner 39-35—74
Lewis LeCroy 40-34—74
First flight
Tyler Dopson 38-37—75
Jeremy Pannell 40-35—75
Landon Straub 36-40—76
Matt Rogers 36-40—76
Ty Cole 38-39—77
Chad Calvert 38-39—77
Lance Evans 37-40—77
Harrison Hughston 39-38—77
Clay Calkins 39-39—78
Tanner Wells 36-43—79
Caleb McKinney 41-38—79
Second flight
Daniel Black 44-37—81
Chris Maye 40-41—81
Sean Hayes 39-42—81
Al Johnson 41-40—81
Jonathan Vines 44-39—83
Vince Floyd 44-39—83
Nick Pollard 45-38—83
Casey Harmon 45-38—83
Randy Lipscomb 41-43—84
Danny Stephens 44-42—86
Landon Holley 42-44—86
Third flight
Dennis Austin 45-44—89
Mike Hughston 44-45—89
Rocco D’Gomez 42-48—90
John McKenzie 40-51—91
Justin Goree 48-44—92
Kaine Gibson 48-45—93
Kelly Rogers 48-47—95
Tyler Teneyck 43-52—95
Justin Dopson 48-48—96
Lee Edge 52-47—99
Adam Benefield 53-61—114
Senior Flight
Chip Howell 34-37—71
Ted Heim 40-40—80
Mike Granato 42-42—84
Jimmy Jackson 42-43—85
Larry Whitman 44-42—86
William Barker 47-50—97
Thomas Potterfield 59-63—112
Sunday’s pairings
(1 p.m. shotgun start)
No. 1 – Jacob LeCroy, Brennan Clay, Ott Chandler, Caleb Bowen.
No. 18 – Justin Graveman, Gary Wigington, Jeremy McGatha.
No. 17 – Adrian Geeting, Tim Turner, Lewis LeCroy.
No. 16 – Tyler Dopson, Jeremy Pannell, Landon Straub, Matt Rogers.
No. 14 – Ty Cole, Chad Calvert, Lance Evans, Harrison Hughston.
No. 13 – Clay Calkins, Tanner Wells, Caleb McKinney.
No. 11 – Daniel Black, Chris Maye, Sean Hayes, Al Johnson.
No. 10 – Jonathan Vines, Vince Floyd, Nick Pollard, Casey Harmon.
No. 9 – Randy Lipscomb, Danny Stephens, Landon Holley.
No. 8 – Dennis Austin, Mike Hughston, Rocco D’Gomez, John McKenzie.
No. 7 – Justin Goree, Kaine Gibson, Kelly Rogers, Tyler Teneyck.
No. 6 – Justin Dopson, Lee Edge, Adam Benefield.
No. 5 –Chip Howell, Ted Heim, Mike Granato.
No. 4 – Jimmy Jackson, Larry Whitman, William Barker, Thomas Potterfield.
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