Around the Green

David Bolen Leads West Texas Amateur

David Bolen Leads West Texas Amateur
LUBBOCK – David Bolen tees it up at Lubbock Country Club two to three times a month, but Round 2 of the 89^th West Texas Amateur will be 18 holes of golf he will never forget. Bolen broke the course record with a 10-under-par 62 and leads the championship by five strokes. 
 
“I was hitting iron shots real close and that makes it a little easier to go low,” Bolen said.
 
Bolen, 38, birdied his first two holes out of the gate and never looked back. He stood over a six-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th green (his ninth hole of the day) to post 8-under-par 28 thru nine holes. Bolen found the center of the cup for a sixth straight birdie and doubled over in disbelief.
 
“When I made the turn I was having some difficulty on the first two or three holes on my turn side to try and get settled down,” said Bolen, a 2002 Texas Tech University graduate. “I made bogey on five which for whatever reason actually settled me down a little bit.”
 
Bolen’s par putt on the par-3 fifth skirted past the cup, but it may have been perfect timing. The Lubbock Country Club member followed his lone bogey of the day with birdies on the par-5 sixth, par-4 seventh and par-4 eighth to reach 10-under-par. Bolen left his look at 61 in the heart but tapped in on the ninth green for the course record, 62.
 
Bolen sits well clear of the field at 12-under-par but knows he must remain aggressive throughout tomorrow’s final round.
 
“I am going to keep firing at flags,” Bolen said. “There is plenty of good players that can put up a good number so I am going to have to be aggressive where I can and just try to get the ball in the fairway.”
 
Baxter Ward of Nacogdoches and the defending champion, Andrew Wyatt, are among the players looking up at Bolen. Ward and Wyatt sit five shots back of the lead after carding two respectable rounds of their own.
 
Ward, 24, added six more birdies to his tournament total of now 12 en route to a 4-under-par 68.
 
“I hung in there well pretty early,” Ward said.  “My short game kind of saved me around the place and then I had a pretty hot start to my back nine and I started to hit some good shots with some good rhythm and tempo.”
 
Wyatt, 27, finds himself near the top of the leaderboard with 18 holes to play for a second straight year. The former Nebraska Cornhusker posted an unblemished scorecard on day two. Wyatt’s bogey-free 67 was highlighted by birdies on the par-5 first, par-3 second, par-4 fourth, par-5 13th and par-4 14th. 
 
“I kept it pretty stress free,” said Wyatt of Midland. “It was just kind of boring golf and it worked out today.”
 
Wyatt said he plans to continue to keep the scorecard clean throughout Sunday’s final round as he seeks back-to-back titles. He would become the ninth player in history to win the West Texas Amateur consecutive years.
 
Mike Cotter of Albany and Mike Peck of Irving remain tied for the lead in the Senior Division. They followed a pair of 69s in Round 1 with rounds of even-par 72.
 
Lubbock Country Club’s Senior Club Champion, Patrick Pritchett, leads the Super Senior Division by five shots at 1-over par.
 
The Championship Division was cut to the top-47 players and ties for the final round. The top-19 and ties will compete for the Senior title and the Super Senior Division was cut to the top-6 and ties.
 
The final round of the 89^th West Texas Amateur begins Sunday at 7:30 a.m. For more information click here.