Outside of a pair of 67s atop the senior division leaderboard, Desert Willow’s Firecliff Course didn’t give up much in the opening round of the Golfweek Senior Amateur in Palm Desert, California. Only 11 players broke par across the four divisions, which features 167 players total, with another seven at even par.
Mark Strickland of San Diego and Greg Sanders of Anthem, Arizona, claimed the pair of 67s with only one bogey between them. Sanders bogeyed the par-4 second but more than made up for it with five birdies over his first eight holes.
Strickland, meanwhile, was bogey-free for the day, throwing out a steady supply of birdies as the day wore on.
Scores: Golfweek Senior Amateur
Northern California native Randy Haag was responsible for the third sub-70 score, and his 69 left him in third in the senior division. Haag, a well-known player in the NorCal area who has multiple NCGA Player of the Year titles, had a colorful day. His card included five birdies offset by four bogeys, but most notably a hole-in-one on the par-3 14th, which played 141 yards from the senior tees on Thursday.
The Golfweek Senior Amateur is the second senior event in the desert this week, following the Golfweek Senior Division National Championship, which Denver’s Jon Lindstrom won on Wednesday. Lindstrom had an opening 1-over 73 on Firecliff which left him in a tie for 13th along with Kirk Maynord, Jerry Gunthrope and Craig Hurlbert, among others, who all finished in the top 6 at Desert Willow’s second layout, the Mountain View Course.
In the super senior division, Pete Higgins of Mercer Island, Washington, and Bob Cooper of Monroe, Louisiana, both had opening rounds of 1-under 71. Higgins’ included an eagle at the par-5 seventh.
Michael Jonson of Sammamish, Washington, leads the legends division with an even-par 72. Pete Van Ingen, who hails from Palm Beach, Florida, is a shot back, and a group of three men are tied for third at 2 over.
San Diego resident James Saivar led the super legend division with a 2-under 70.