Around the Green

Gray Maintains Lead through 36 Holes at 114th Texas Amateur

HOCKLEY – Bret Gray from San Antonio fired a 4-under-par 67 on Friday at The Clubs at Houston Oaks in the second round of the 114th Texas Amateur. He maintained a one-shot lead at the halfway point of the state’s most celebrated amateur championship.

The Sam Houston State junior sits at 9-under 133 overall, one stroke in front of Keller’s Jase Summy, who lit up Houston Oaks on Friday morning for a course-record 7-under 64.

“Yeah, I saw (the 64) as I was about to tee off,” said Gray, a two-time collegiate winner and the 2022-23 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year. “I didn’t really think about it too much, but I knew the number I needed to get to if I wanted to stay in the lead, obviously. I knew this afternoon wave was going to hard. The wind is blowing, it’s hot as heck. I had a number in my head, but I didn’t think about it too much. I just kept playing my game.”

Gray said Thursday he likes to keep things simple: fairways, greens, no three-putts. He stuck to the program again Friday. He rolled in five birdies and chipped one in from off the green for par on No. 15 after a loose tee shot. He suffered just one bogey on the day.

“It was hot out there,” he said. “I was most proud of myself for staying in it all day, taking it one shot at a time, and not letting the heat get to me or making an excuse for that. I stayed even keeled. I was proud of that.”

Summy displayed a similar approach to his round earlier in the day. He poured in nine birdies on his way to breaking the competitive course record at The Clubs at Houston Oaks with his electric 64. The University of Oklahoma sophomore birdied three of his first five holes, then four of his first five on his second nine.

Only a lipped out par putt from 4 feet on his final hole kept him from sharing the lead headed into Saturday’s third round.

“I normally make a lot of birdies, so if I can clean it up and not make any big numbers, I’ll shoot pretty good normally,” said Summy, who won the 2023 Boilermaker Invitational in April and was a Big 12 All-Conference selection last season. “I had one three-putt today – I try not to have any of those; it’s always a goal – and I just thought I played a really clean round of golf. It could’ve been better, but it was just really clean.”

Gray and Summy separated themselves a bit from the rest of the field of top amateurs in the state. Third place belongs to Austin’s Sean-Karl Dobson, who shot a 3-under 68 in the second round to get to 4-under 138 overall. The incoming Stanford freshman is five shots back of Gray.

Fort Worth’s Travis Woolf is six shots behind in fourth place. The former TCU standout sits at 3-under 139 after his solid round of 2-under 69 on Friday. Houston’s Justin Kaplan rallied late with four birdies in his final seven holes to shoot 5-under 66 in the second round. He holds fifth place at 2-under 140.

Seven players are under par after two rounds at the sublime, par-71 Chet Williams-designed Houston Oaks course. Three more are at even-par 142, but they’re all looking up at Gray and Summy with two rounds to play.

With half the state of Texas under a Heat Advisory, it was another scorcher at Houston Oaks during the second round.

Friday’s weather unfortunately didn’t include the early morning cloud cover the field enjoyed on Thursday, which created a steamy environment almost from the start of the day. It was much breezier in the morning, too, with 15-20 mph gusts whipping through Houston Oaks by as early as 9 a.m.

At noon, the temperature at Houston Oaks was a toasty 93 degrees with a 103 index. The steady 20-25 mph winds helped ease the heat’s effects, but it also played havoc on plenty of competitors’ golf balls. The mercury topped out at 98 degrees from around 3-4:30 p.m. with “Feels Like” temperatures climbing to 108.

Hydration was a priority, and the 61 players who made the 36-hole cut at 8-over 150 or better can expect two more days of searing heat at one of the best golf courses in Texas. Among those who survived the cut were three past Texas Amateur winners.

Austin’s Trey Bosco, a senior at Baylor, won the 111th Texas Amateur in 2020 at Boot Ranch. He’s tied for 11th place currently at 1-over 143. Pottsboro’s Austyn Reily, a senior at the University of Houston, claimed the 112th Texas Amateur in 2021 at Midland Country Club. Reily shares apiece of 27th place at 4-over 146. Holden Wisener from Dallas, the defending champion who won the H.L. Edwards Memorial Trophy last summer at Willow Brook Country Club, is tied for 42nd place at 6-over 148.

The third round of the 114th Texas Amateur begins at 8 a.m. at Houston Oaks. For more information, including complete scoring, click here.