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June 24th 2008 -  The Indiana Golf
Association’s 108th Indiana Amateur Championship began Tuesday at
Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville. Andrew Rhodes of Sweetser leads the oldest
and most prestigious golf tournament in the state with a first round score of
31-38=69 at the 6,777-yard, par 71 course. He looks to rise above his second
place finish in 2007 at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus.
Rhodes started his
day on the 10th hole with a birdie, but made a double bogey at the
465-yard, par 4 15th hole. “After 15 I told myself there were plenty
of birdie holes left. I knew everyone was going to make big numbers. I just
stayed patient and stuck with it,” he said. He stayed patient, but still
managed nothing under par at the next five holes and took a bogey at the
210-yard, par 3 second hole. He had two shots from the greenside bunker, but
made a 15-foot putt. “Making that putt gave me confidence,” said Rhodes.
That confidence lead
to a string of four birdies and an eagle on holes three through seven. At the
615-yard third hole, a par 5, he had to punch out from the trees with a 5-iron
and landed it within seven feet of the hole. He went on to make the putt to
start the sequence of subpar scores. After a sand wedge approach shot on the
fourth hole to 20 feet, he made the long putt for birdie. Another one-putt on
hole 5 and yet another on hole 6, after hitting a 7-iron to two feet, took him
back to one under par for the day.
An eagle at the
350-yard, par 4 7th hole was the result of an aggressive and
impressive attempt at the green on his tee shot. He said, “After the practice
round I felt confident. I told myself that if I got under par by the time I got
to that hole, I would go for it.” Rhodes finished the round two under par to
have sole possession of the lead. Brian Harris of Kokomo is in second with a
70.
From June 6-9, 394 Indiana golfers competed in 12 local
District Qualifiers for a chance to play at Wolf Run G.C. with the other 31
players who were exempt from qualifying; these exemptions were based on past
performance in IGA events.
The field will be cut to the low 60 scores and ties
after 36 holes of stroke play competition. The remaining players will then play
two more stroke play rounds. Tee times start at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
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