Around the Green

Jeter, Wyatt Co-lead 2016 West Texas Amateur After Round Two

LUBBOCK- Jarred Jeter of College Station and Andrew Wyatt of Midland are tied for the lead at the 2016 West Texas.

It was moving day this Saturday on the Rawls Course at Texas Tech. Micah Rogers of Odessa was probably the most notable mover after he fired a 6-under 66 to move all the way up to second place behind Wyatt and Jeter. Rogers, who went out during the morning, started his day 2–under and eight strokes back of then lone leader, Jarred Jeter. After six birdies, he sits at 8-under for the championship and three strokes back of the lead.

Rounding out the top five were Baxter Ward of Nacogdoches, Jason Fitzgerald of Wichita Falls, Devin Jackson of Longview and George Gardner of Southlake. They are all tied in the fourth spot at 6-under for the championship.

The wind punished the afternoon wave with gusts climbing up to 27 miles per hour. This made Jeter’s score of a 1-under 71 an honorable feat and Wyatt’s 5-under 67 almost unimaginable.

“Today I played smart. I got a good round in the wind,” Wyatt said. “I kept it simple and just tried to make no bogeys and every now and again you make a birdie and that helps.”

Wyatt indeed kept it simple. He reiterated that his game plan was to hit the ball and then go find it to hit it again. This simplicity was key to his round as he carded three birdies, no bogeys and an eagle on the par-5 17^th.  Jeter, his co-leader, did not share the same sentiments.

“It was brutal out there, night and day from yesterday,” Jeter said. “I am a little bit disappointed in [my score] just because I kept bouncing back in forth and never was staying solid.”

Jeter accurately described his round as up-and-down. He was 2-under for the day heading into 14 but a double bogey saw him shoot back down to even. Then he went birdie, bogey, birdie on holes 15, 16 and 17 to obtain his final score of 1-under. Based on the windy conditions Jeter will gladly take that score and the 36-hole co-lead at 11-under for the tournament.

In the Senior Division Sandlin Lee of Dallas, who was tied at the top to begin his second round, became the sole leader despite a 1-over round. He sits at 2-under for the championship. Mickey Jones of Odessa is the Senior division mover of the day. He started the day 2-over but after blasting five birdies and surviving two bogeys for a round of a 3-under 69, he sits at sole second and one behind Lee.

In the Super Senior division, Patrick Pritchett of Lubbock continued his dominance by shooting even par. He remains 1-over for the championship and has a three-shot lead over the rest of the field in the Super Senior division. Michael Hastings of Waxahachie and Don Grider of Georgetown both stayed neck and neck with Pritchett throughout the second round and equaled his score with even par on the day. They both are currently in second place at 4-over for the championship.

At the end of round two play, the field was cut to the top 72 players and ties. That number was then divided up based on scores within each division. The Open division saw the top 50 and ties make the cut, the Senior division saw 15 and the Super Senior saw seven. All players that made the cut will tee off tomorrow morning and will compete to become the champions of their respective divisions.

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