Around the Green

Dossey Leads Byron Nelson Junior Championship

Dossey Leads Byron Nelson Junior Championship
 
DALLAS – Luke Dossey of Austin said 72 was the worst score he could have shot after yesterday’s opening round. He hit 17 greens but could not get the ball to drop on the putting surfaces. On Wednesday, however, Dossey’s ball-striking was complimented by an improved effort on the greens. He fired a 3-under-par 68 to post 2-under 140 through 36 holes and leads the Byron Nelson Junior Championship by one stroke.
 
“The putts dropped today,” said Dossey, a 2019 Baylor University commit. “I still struck the ball really well.”
 
Dossey, 17, backed up to start the second round with a bogey on the par-4 third hole. He bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 fourth. Dossey’s tee shot on the par-3 fifth finished 25 feet to the right of the hole. He stood over the downhill putt, gave one last look and poured in his birdie. Dossey closed his opening nine holes with a birdie on the par-5 ninth to go out in 2-under 34.
 
The back nine followed suit. Dossey’s bogey free closing loop was highlighted by an up and down for birdie out of the right greenside bunker on the par-5 17th. He was greeted by a fist bump from his older brother and caddie, Cooper Dossey. 
 
Dossey’s older brother helped to slow him down throughout the round. Cooper, a sophomore at Baylor, leaned on his own experience as he caddied for Luke.
 
“He has been in a lot of situations like this before,” Dossey said. “He just did a great job today of calming me down, slowing me down and making sure I was not getting quick over the ball or even in my pre-shot routine.”
 
Dossey missed the cut by two shots at last year’s Byron Nelson Junior Championship. This year, the Vandergrift High School junior holds the 36-hole lead and said he plans to simply stick to his game plan.
 
“I am just going to go out there and keep on hitting the ball like I am,” Dossey said. “Hopefully me and Cooper can match our read with my speed tomorrow on those putts.”
 
Mike McGraw, the Baylor Men’s Golf head coach, and Ryan Blagg, a Baylor assistant coach, followed their 2019 commit throughout Round 2. They were not alone. More than 25 coaches from across the nation were in attendance at Lakewood Country Club.
 
The Texas A&M assistant golf coach, Brian Kortan, was among them. He followed 2018 commit, Sam Bennett, who made a statement of his own Wednesday.
 
Bennett fired a 4-under-par 67 to climb the leaderboard into solo second. After bogeying the par-4 second hole, Bennett played his final 16 holes bogey free. He cashed in five birdies, including a near hole out from the fairway on the par-4 15th.
 
Bennett, who posted 3-over 74 yesterday, said he leaned on the late evening advice from his brother, Marcus.
 
“He texted me, ‘play safe but swing aggressive,’” Bennett said. “I was really just playing good the whole way through.”  
 
The senior at Madisonville High School finished T10 in the 2015 Byron Nelson Junior Championship. He said he plans to stay relaxed and come into the final round with the same “safe, yet aggressive” mentality.
 
Nathan Petronzio of Bee Cave, Jack Randle of The Woodlands and Temple’s William Paysse will begin the final round at even par. They all share third place, just two shots off the lead.

Thirty-three players made the cut. They will tee it up in the final round starting Thursday at 8 a.m. For more information on the Byron Nelson Junior Championship click here.