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Leiss Leads Tight Field after South Senior Am First Round

Montgomery – David Leiss of Houston shot 2-under-par 70 on Wednesday to take the Senior division lead after the first round of the 2018 South Senior Amateur, presented by Impact Precision Golf. Montgomery’s Tom McGraw leads the Super Senior division after turning an even-par 72 in his first round of the tournament, played at Walden on Lake Conroe Golf Club.
 
Leiss started slowly with a bogey on the 501-yard par-5 10th hole, but recovered quickly with a run of four consecutive pars. He had a strong finish to his first nine holes with birdies on the 15th and 18th holes to make the turn at 1-under. Another birdie on the par-4 third hole took his score to 2-under before a bogey on the seventh hole. Leiss finished strong with a birdie on the ninth to head into the clubhouse at 2-under.
 
Bobby Baugh and John Pierce, both from San Antonio, trail Leiss by one stroke after each shot 1-under-par 71s. Baugh and Pierce each recorded three birdies to go along with two bogeys to finish their rounds one shot off the lead.
 
Fulshear’s John Dowdall dropped a round-best five birdies to counteract five bogeys and leave him in fourth place at even par, two strokes off the lead.
 
In the Super Senior division, McGraw holds a two stroke lead after a consistent first round that saw him record 15 pars. McGraw started his hole on the 426-yard par-4 1st hole and rattled off eight consecutive pars to start his round before having some trouble with the par-5 ninth hole. A double bogey took him into the turn at 2-over-par, but he quickly got back on track with three more pars before a birdie on the 13th hole. Another birdie on the 16th brought him back to even par, where he would finish the day.
 
Kent Samuel of The Woodlands trails McGraw by two strokes after shooting a 2-over-par 74. Samuel birdied the par-3 sixth hole before a run of two double bogeys in four holes took him back over par after 11 holes. Another bogey took him up to 4-over, but back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 propelled Samuel to the finish with his 74.
 
Marshall Utterson sits three strokes behind McGraw after coming in at 3-over-par 75.
 
Final round play begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Seniors tee off from the first and 10th holes, with Super Seniors rounding out the groups on the 10th. Leaders tee off from their respective holes at 9:39 a.m.  Click here for tee times, live scoring and more information.