Round 1 Recap (PGA West - TPC Stadium Course)

Fifteen year old Ben Itterman of Carlsbad, CA (2010) fired a bogey-free round of four under par on Saturday to open the PGA West Classic.  At one point during his round Itterman got on a roll making 4 birdies in a row on holes 8 through 11.  Four players are tied for 2nd place at 71:  15 year old Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos, CA (2010), who won the Mission Hills Open in December, Kevin Penner of Sammamish, WA (2009), a 3rd year FCWT player is playing in his first event of the season, Eli Cole of Beverly Hills, CA (2008), who led this division in birdies with 6 on Saturday and 15 year old Daniel Lee of Valencia, CA (2011), playing in his first event of the season.  Justin Estrada of Yuba City, CA (2011) is currently in 6th place at even par.  Brandon Hagy of Westlake Village, CA (2009), currently in 7th place, carded the only eagle of the day on the par 5 8th hole.  Five players are tied for 8th at 74:  John Catlin of Carmichael, CA (2009), Nicholas Schafer of Rocklin, CA (2010), Jordan Epstein of Carlsbad, CA (2009), Raymond Gillip II of Las Vegas, NV (2009), and Seung Shin of Seoul, KOREA (2009).

In the Boys 13-15 division, Michael Kim of Del Mar, CA (2011), fired a 3 under par 69 to lead all scores.  Kim, who is playing in his first FCWT event, had 13 pars and 4 birdies for his round.  He will have a 2 stroke advantage over Brian Alle of Pacific Palisades, CA (2011) going into Sunday's round.  Tucker Wadkins of Dallas, TX (2011), carded a round of even par 72 and will begin in 3rd place.  Mike Moorhead of Newport Beach, CA (2012) carded a 73 and will start just 4 shots back of the leader.

In the Boys 11-12 division, Ben Doyle of San Diego, CA (2014) posted an opening round of 73 (+1) to lead all scores.  Doyle, who won the Mission Hills Open in December, will be looking for his 2nd win on Sunday.  Gavin deFisser of Gilbert, AZ (2015) is currently in 2nd place after an opening round of 81.  Christopher Petefish of Danville, CA (2014), who has 3 wins so far this season, is currently in 3rd place at 86.

Senior Kaitlin Drolson of Rancho Santa Fe, CA, fired an opening round of 1 under par to lead the Girls division of the PGA West Classic.  Miss Drolson, a 4th year FCWT player, carded 7 birdies on Saturday to lead this division.  Round One saw mostly to partly cloudy skies but the forecast calls for very windy conditions to come into the area late this afternoon and remain until Monday.  Projections of 45 mph winds for this desert area are part of the monster storm that is slamming the West Coast.

Fifteen year old Nicole Zhang of Calgary, AB, CANADA (2010), who won the Mission Hills Open in December, is currently in 2nd place after an opening round of 73.  Miss Zhang led this division in pars with 15 on Saturday.  One shot back of Miss Zhang is Mackinzie Kline of Encinitas, CA (2010) who opened with a round of 74.  Jackie Chang of Paradise Valley, AZ (2010) is next on the leaderboard with a 77, followed by local player Taylor Doyle of San Diego, CA (2008), who carded an opening round of 78.