Around the Green

Philley Leads After Round Two at the West Texas Amateur

The second round of the 85^th Annual West Texas
Amateur began Saturday under ideal scoring conditions for the second straight day.
With light winds and soft greens, players were able to fire at hole locations
without having to worry about shots getting through the greens. The conditions
were particularly well received by those players looking to make a move inside
the 36-hole cutline.

Mike Peck, who fired a bogey free 66 and led the Senior
division after round one, continued his solid play in round two. Peck started
on the 10^th hole and made birdies at #13, and #17 before making a
bogey at #18 to shoot 1-under on his first nine holes. Peck quickly made up the
lost shot with birdies on #1, and #4, but bogeyed the 6^th hole to
shoot 2-under par for the round. Pecks 36-hole total of 7-under par, 135, gives
him a four shot lead over Denny Alexander heading into the final round on
Sunday. Alexander was able to match Peck in round two with a round of 69 that included
16 pars, and 2 birdies for a two round total of 3-under par, 139. The only
other player under par after 36 holes is Mac McGee of Midland. After a 3-under
par, 68 in round one, McGee fought hard and managed a 1-over par, 72 in the
second round for a 36-hole total of 2-under, 140. Rounding out the top five in
the Senior division are Bob Kearney and Doug Hopton-Jones who are tied for fourth
at 1-over par, 143. The cut for the Senior division came at 13-over par, 155.
21 players from the Senior division will be playing for the championship in the
final round on Sunday.

In the Super Senior division, Bill Holstead of Wichita Falls
fired an impressive round of 2-under par that included four bogeys. To overcome
the lost shots, Holstead made birdies on holes #3, #4, #5, #10, #16, and #18.
The round of 69 gives Holstead a 36-hole total of 1-under par, 141, and a two
shot lead heading into the final round over Dale Fell, and 2011 champion Michael
Hastings. Fell managed four birdies to go with three bogeys in the only other
sub-par round for the Super Senior division on Saturday. Michael Hastings, who
lead at even-par after round one, managed a 1-over par round of 72 on Saturday.
Both players sit tied for second with a 36-hole total of 1-over par, 143. The
cut for the Super Senior division came at 15-over par, 157. Nine players will
be playing in the final round.

The Open division got their second round started in the
afternoon under slightly more difficult conditions with higher temperatures and
stronger winds providing a challenging test. Leading the way was Logan Philley
of Robert Lee. Logan sat alone in second place after a 67 in round one. In
round two, Philley picked up right where he left off making birdie on the 10^th
hole (his starting hole), and following it up with another birdie on 16 before
carding a bogey on the 18^th to turn in 1-under par. Philley went on
to make two more birdies and a bogey on his back side to close out the round at
2-under par, 69. Phillys 36-hole total of 6-under par, 136 moved him to the top
of the leaderboard after round two and gives him a three shot lead. Tied for
second place with a 36-hole total of 3-under par, 138, are Rob Couture, Michael
Culin, and Lewis Stephenson. Starting his round on the 10^th hole,
Couture made two quick bogeys at #12 and #14. He then turned things around by
making birdies on holes #18, #2, #8, and #9 to close out a solid round of
2-under par, 69. In similar fashion, Culin made the turn at 2-over for the day.
On the back nine, he went on to make three birdies, including two in a row on
#11 and #12 to shoot 1-under par, 70. After a 3-under par, 68, in round one,
Lewis Stephenson had to fight through his second round making three bogeys and
three birdies to shoot even-par. Three other players currently sit under par
after 36 holes, Ed Sanchez at 2-under, along with Jay McHugh and Calvin Clyde
at 1-under. The cut in the Open division came at 7-over par, 149. The low 37
open division players will tee it up Sunday morning for the final round.

Each division remains close moving into the final round.
Play will begin Sunday in San Angelo at 8:00am. For scores and tee time
information, please visit WWW.TXGA.ORG.