Round 1 Recap

Eighty-eight players teed it up on this sunny, very warm day in South Bend (temperatures were in the 80s and many players wore shorts).  Many times the Notre Dame Open has been rainy and cold, not so this weekend.

Fifteen year old FCWT newcomer Ben-Marvin Egel of Kokomo, IN (2011) carded a round of even par on Saturday to take the first round lead at the Notre Dame Open.  Egel carded 4 birdies on the round and has a one stroke advantage heading into Sunday's final round over FCWT veteran Anthony Aicher of Wausau, WI (2009) and newcomer Andrew Walukonis of Traverse City, MI (2009).  Aicher, who won the Cog Hill event last season, led the division in birdies with 5 for the round. Walukonis led the division in pars with 15 on Saturday.  Aicher and Walukonis will join Egel in the final pairing on Sunday.  Right behind the leaders will be Tobin Dunigan of Jackson, MI (2008), Ryan Prickette of Neenah, MI (2008).  Dunigan and Prickette will begin the final round tied for 4th after opening with rounds of +3 (74).  Four players are tied for 6th:  Eddie Hjerpe of Barrington, RI (2009), Mark Endres of Bryn Mawr, PA (2009), Philip Gieseker of Saline, MI (2009) and Barrett Kelpin of Kalamazoo, IN (2008).  Five players are tied for 10th at 76 after one round of play:  Casey O'Keefe of North Attleboro, MA (2009), Corey Ziedonis of Indianapolis, IN (2009), Nick Weber of Hartland, WI (2008), James Dewling of Brighton, MI (2008), and Luke Sniegowski of Ludington, MI (2008).

In the Boys 13-15 division, 15 year old newcomer Sam Weber of Hartland, WI (2010) and second year player 15-year old Patrick Rodgers of Avon, IN (2011) are co-leading.  Both players opened with rounds of one over par 72 giving them a 4 stroke advantage over Jack Shoreman of Orangeville, ON, CANADA (2010) heading into the final round.  Shoreman, a 14 year old playing his first FCWT season, carded a first round score of 76. Rodgers led the field in birdies with 5 while Weber led in pars with 13.  Steve Barbour of East Grand Rapids, MI (2010) is only one stroke back of Shoreman.  Three players are tied for 5th at 78:  Jonathan Gerrard of Highland Park, IL (2012), Nicholas Grubnich of Crown Point, IN (2011) and John Weyenberg of Menasha, WI (2011).

In the Boys 11-12 division, nine players teed it up and Austin Rendell of Winnetka, IL (2013) carded a round of 72 to lead all scores.  Rendell will begin Sunday's round with a 3 stroke lead over Thomas Felling of Florence, AZ (2013).  Ian Wright of Winnetka, IL (2013) will start in 3rd place at 77.

Canadian Girls top the leaderboard

Jacqueline Yanch of Barrie, ON, CANADA (2009) led the girls division of the Notre Dame Open with a round of 72 on a beautiful 80 plus degree day.  Veteran players know that this event has been played many times in the cold, the rain and even snowflakes.  Not today, most players wore shorts and enjoyed golf like they were in Florida.  Miss Yanch, who led the field in pars with 13, was one such player.  Her round of one over par gives her a 2 stroke advantage over Natalia Ghilzon of Windsor, ON, CANADA (2008) going into Sunday's final round.  Miss Ghilzon led the field in birdies with 3.  She will start 4 strokes ahead of a third Canadian, Miss Taylor Schmidt of Kincardine, ON, CANADA (2009).  Fifteen year old Jackie Chang of Paradise Valley, AZ (2010) and Mara Kovac of Lansing, MI (2009) are the highest ranked American player on the Girls leaderboard.  They will start in a tie for 4th place after opening rounds of 79.