Around the Green

Baugh Leads Texas Senior Amateur after 36 Holes

AMARILLO – Bobby Baugh of San Antonio finished with back-to-back birdies on Saturday and climbed atop the 86^th Texas Senior Amateur leaderboard after two rounds. Baugh is 5-under through 36 holes at Amarillo Country Club.

“I had a really good drive on eight to set up a pitching wedge from 137 yards, which was hit to five feet and I made it,” said Baugh regarding his finish. “The final hole I hit a drive in the left rough, then missed the green to the left. Hit a flop shot to about six feet and I made the putt.”

Baugh hit 16 of 18 fairways and greens in his second round but credited his putter for his solid play on Saturday.

“That’s what I’ve been struggling the most with lately, the putting,” said Baugh. “I’ve hit the ball well and luckily the hole got in the way of the ball a few times today.”

Following rounds of 69-68 in the first two days, Baugh seeks the Texas Senior Amateur title and will play alongside the last two champions of the tournament.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow and feel a lot better after having a good round of putting.”

Joining Baugh in the final pairing on Sunday, will be Round 1 co-leaders Gary Durbin and Sandy Pierce of Houston.

Durbin shot even-par 71 in the second round. He was the winner of this event in 2021 and 2019 and looks to become the sixth three-time winner of this event. Durbin’s rounds of 67-71 have him at 4-under-par.

Pierce posted a round of 2-over 73 on Saturday and is the defending champion. He is looking to become the first back-to-back winner since Don Addington won in 1997-1998. Through 36 holes he has made eight birdies and four bogeys or worse and is 2-under-par.

Tied for fourth is Texarakana’s Chuck Gardner and Burleson’s Lewis Stephenson. Gardner played 2-under in his second round, making four birdies as he moved 12 spots up the leaderboard. Stephenson, who is also a two-time winner of this event, stayed consistent with rounds of 71-72 to get to 1-over.

Terrence Miskell of New Braunfels is in sixth place at 2-over-par, while Aledo’s Wayne Wright is in seventh at 3-over. Five players are tied for eighth at 4-over, two players tied for 14^th at 5-over and six players tied for 15^th at 6-over.

The tournament was cut following the second round with 58 players finishing at 10-over or better on Saturday.

Through 36 holes, the 144-player field amassed 435 birdies and played to an average score of 77.6 at Amarillo Country Club. There were five total eagles with three of them coming on the par-5 ninth which plays 502 yards. The course played 6,622 yards in the second round.

Amarillo Country Club underwent a renovation in 2013 and features a compact par-71 layout on the northwest side of town. The routing offers a variety of left-to-right and right-to-left holes that are bordered by trees. There are only six penalty areas around the routing with the perimeter being the lone boundary to avoid.

This is the first time Amarillo CC is hosting the Texas Senior Amateur and joins an exclusive list of past host sites such as Champions Golf Club, Oak Hills Country Club, Brook Hollow Country Club and Midland Country Club. The tournament was first held at San Antonio Country Club in 1937 and was held there for the first 23 years. The Texas Senior Amateur returned to West Texas for the first time since 2010, when Odessa Country Club hosted.

Temperatures started in the low 60s on Saturday and reached the low 90s by the afternoon. Winds were steady but not as strong as the previous day as gusts were up to 20 miles per hour in the afternoon.

The Final Round is set to begin at 8:00 am off the No. 1 and 10 tees on Sunday, September 10. Pairings can be viewed by clicking here. For more information on the 86^th Texas Senior Amateur, click here. To see all the scores from the first two rounds, click here.