Overton’s Record-Tying 64 Sets Pace in First Day of Stroke Play
Galloway Township, N.J. – Jeff Overton, 20, of Evansville, Ind., tied a USGA record with a 7-under-par 64 to lead the first round of stroke play at the 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Blue Heron Pines Golf Club’s East Course.
Overton, a junior at Indiana University where he twice earned all-Big 10 honors, registered eight birdies (including three straight to close his round) and one bogey to tie the mark for lowest stroke-play score in the 77-year history of the Amateur Public Links. His 64 also ties for second -lowest score in USGA Amateur championships for males.
Previously, Albert Ochoa (first round in 1997) and Robert Gamez (second round in 1989) had shot 64 in APL stroke play.
“I wasn’t really thinking about a score,” Overton said. “But, I’ve been playing really well lately.”
The “playing well” he’s referring to is a six-week stretch that includes a final-round 64 en route to a 12-stroke victory in the Indiana State Amateur, a second-place finish at the venerable North and South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C. and birdieing three of his last five holes in APL qualifying to earn the lone berth to the championship at that sectional site.
"It’s always nice to be in the lead at a USGA event but to win this, it’s match play and you can get excited now and go home tomorrow.” Overton said, matter-of-factly. “Or, you can do the same thing tomorrow and the next day and the next day. That’s probably what I learned at the North and South. It’s the slow pace to win this event. The person with the most patience will win.”
Chris Wheeler, 20, of Pilot Point, Texas, playing what he called “awesome, probably the best round of my life,” notched six birdies against one bogey for a 5-under 66 to trail by two strokes.
Following closely were Matt Johnson, 21, of Fairfax, Va., and Jason Baitaille, of South Plainfield, N.J., who each tallied 3-under 68s.
Johnson ’s 68 was noteworthy because he posted his score after just two and half hours of sleep. He arrived at his hotel at 3 a.m. and began play at 8:30 a.m. A senior at Winthrop University and a three-time All-Big South selection, he tied for 10th at the Eastern Amateur in Portsmouth, Va., which concluded Sunday, and then drove to New Jersey.
"I wanted to play extra conservative and make as many pars as possible,” said Johnson. “I made a lot of good 6-, 7- and 8-footers for birdie.”
His round included five birdies and two bogeys. Despite not playing a practice round, Johnson wasn’t totally unprepared. His mother, Valerie, printed out the hole-by-hole descriptions from the U.S. Amateur Public Links Web site. In addition, Johnson gave extra credit to his caddie, named Ben Hogan .
Ten players broke par with only four doing so in the morning wave. Others under par were Brandt Snedeker, 22, of Nashville, Tenn., a first-team All-American in 2003, John Ellis, 23, of San Jose, Calif., and Joey Stansberry, 47, of Bloomington, Minn., all of whom shot 2-under 69s.
At 1-under 70 were Brady Stockton, 23, of San Ramon, Calif., a 2002 Public Links semifinalist, Aaron Black, 21, of Aiken . S.C., and 18-year-old Luke List, of Ringgold, Ga., at 1-under 70. List qualified for this year's U.S. Open, which earned him an exemption into the APL.
Henry Liaw, 17, Rowland Heights, Calif., the 2001 Junior Amateur champion, shot even-par 71.
Chez Reavie, 21, of Mesa, Ariz., who won the 2001 Public Links championship, fired a 3-over-par 74. Defending champion Ryan Moore, 20, of Puyallup, Wash., and 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Danny Green, of Jackson, Tenn., each posted a 6-over-par 77.
Moore fought off a poor start (7-over-par 43 on his first nine holes) by making some mid-round adjustments.
"On my (9th) green I tried to figure something out and tried to put a steering wheel on the rest of the day and tried to salvage a good score,” Moore said. “I finally got the feel of my swing. I’m completely a feel player and I finally felt like I could repeat my swing.”
The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, for bona fide public course players, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
Results
Galloway, N.J. – Results of Monday’s first round of stroke play at the 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship played at the 7,127-yard, par-71 Blue Heron Pines Golf Club’s East Course:
Jeffrey Overton, Evansville, Ind., 31-33--64
Chris Wheeler, Allen, Texas, 34-32--66
Matthew Johnson, Fairfax, Va., 34-34--68
Jason Bataille, South Plainfield, N.J., 34-34--68
Brandt Snedeker, Nashville, Tenn., 35-34--69
John Ellis, San Jose, Calif., 35-34--69
Joey Stansberry, Bloomington, Minn., 36-33--69
Brady Stockton, San Ramon, Calif., 34-36--70
Aaron Black, Aiken, S.C., 36-34--70
Luke List, Ringgold, Ga., 35-35--70
Casey Lubahn, East Lansing, Mich., 37-34--71
John Limanti, Jacksonville, Fla., 33-38--71
Henry Liaw, Rowland Heights, Calif., 36-35--71
Dayton Rose, Stillwater, Okla., 36-36--72
Jay Reynolds, Austin, Texas, 35-37--72
Shawn Pattison, Spokane, Wash., 34-38--72
Nathan Colson, Plymouth, Wis., 38-34--72
Jeff Gilchrist, Sacramento, Calif., 34-38--72
Brendan Steele, Idyllwild, Calif., 34-38--72
Adam Fuchs, Plainview, N.Y., 36-36--72
Kevin Messer, Missouri City, Texas, 35-37--72
Chris Stroud, Groves, Texas, 34-39--73
Alan Hill, Spring Branch, Texas, 38-35--73
Billy Whalen, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., 36-37--73
Lloyd Fisher, Grand Rapids, Mich., 34-39--73
Jason Williams, Meridian, Idaho, 36-37--73
Joseph Deraney, Statesboro, Ga., 36-37--73
Kevin Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, 36-37--73
Matthew Every, Daytona Beach, Fla., 37-36--73
Chris Morrow, Edmonds, Wash., 37-36--73
Joe Kunz, Webster, N.Y., 35-38--73
Chez Reavie, Mesa, Ariz., 36-38--74
Eric Riehle, Hemet, Calif., 37-37--74
Parker McLachlin, Honolulu, Hawaii, 36-38--74
Travis Johnson, Bellflower, Calif., 37-37--74
Aloysius Falussy, Dix Hills, N.Y., 38-36--74
Scott Seibert, Chesterfield, Mo., 36-38--74
Marc Hocking, Colorado Springs, Colo., 34-40--74
Michael Welch, Quincy, Mass., 35-39--74
Drew Shafer, Akron, Ind., 38-36--74
Nolan Martin, Colorado Springs, Colo., 37-37--74
Matt Harmon, Grand Rapids, Mich., 37-37--74
Billy Wingerd, Baltimore, Md., 39-35--74
Lenny Park, Tempe, Ariz., 36-38--74
Jeffrey Castle, Hampstead, N.H., 37-37--74
Joseph Russo, Sewell, N.J., 37-37--74
John Cassidy, Yelm, Wash., 37-37--74
Pete Stone, Bountiful, Utah, 37-37--74
Roger Fine, Carrollton, Texas, 37-37--74
Scott Henderson, Dove Canyon, Calif., 36-38--74
Derek O'Neill, Littleton, Colo., 38-36--74
Lee Sanders, Dallas, Texas, 39-35--74
John Larson, Springfield, Minn., 37-38--75
Kyle Weisenburger, Continental, Ohio, 35-40--75
Nick Desai, Zambia, 33-42--75
Clayton Moe, Longview, Wash., 37-38--75
Greg Douglas, Cooper, Texas, 36-39--75
Timothy Kane, Simsbury, Conn., 37-38--75
Armen Dirtadian, Tucson, Ariz., 40-35--75
Adam Cohan, Wayne, Pa., 38-37--75
James Vargas, Miami, Fla., 40-35--75
Zack King, Ventura, Calif., 39-36--75
Derek Arnett, Detroit, Mich., 35-40--75
Jon Antunes, Belton, Texas, 40-35--75
Jonathan Ota, Lihue, Hawaii, 37-38--75
Tim Kunick, Bismarck, N.D., 36-40--76
Mark Christensen, Elk River, Minn., 36-40--76
Jim Renner, Plainville, Mass., 35-41--76
Matt Van Cleave, Maryville, Mo., 39-37--76
Matthew Berzovich, Longwood, Fla., 35-41--76
Isaac Weintraub, Santa Cruz, Calif., 40-36--76
Eric Wang, Cypress, Calif., 39-37--76
Brian Van De Veere, Glendora, Calif., 36-40--76
Timothy Murphy, Greensburg, Pa., 37-39--76
Mike Ignasiak, Saline, Mich., 36-40--76
Daniel Metzendorf, Warren, Ohio, 40-36--76
Robert Parker, Sanford, Fla., 37-39--76
Benjamin Kern, Tucson, Ariz., 38-38--76
Kyle Kokanovich, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 40-37--77
Ryan Moore, Puyallup, Wash., 34-43--77
Michael Goldwater, Austin, Texas, 41-36--77
Michael Belich, West Allis, Wis., 38-39--77
Nick Obie, Havre, Mont., 40-37--77
Michael Larkin, Gibsonia, Pa., 38-39--77
Mickey Plyler, Greenville, S.C., 39-38--77
John Thornton, Memphis, Tenn., 36-41--77
Josh Anderson, Columbus, Ohio, 38-39--77
Jay Woodson, Powhatan, Va., 40-37--77
Jake Lowder, Huntersville, N.C., 36-41--77
Danny Green, Jackson, Tenn., 39-38--77
Jonathan Jenkins, Jonesboro, Ga., 37-40--77
Matthew Wernecke, Wharton, Texas, 40-38--78
John Brooks, Frankfort, Ky., 40-38--78
Trent Roush, Mason, W.Va., 37-41--78
Hector Diaz-Ceballos, Bradenton, Fla., 40-38--78
Jeff Scohy, Mt. Gilead, Ohio, 37-41--78
Chris Kuhlke, Augusta, Ga., 39-39--78
Torey Edwards, Long Beach, Calif., 41-37--78
Nicholas Quintela, El Paso, Texas, 38-41--79
Vertti Iso-Ahola, Upper Marlboro, Md., 39-40--79
Brien Davis, Las Vegas, Nev., 41-38--79
Edward Parnell, Maitland, Fla., 42-37--79
Mark Esposito, Hoffman Estates, Ill., 37-42--79
Bryan Kane, Raleigh, N.C., 39-40--79
Miles Maillet, Bishop, Calif., 40-39--79
Mike Payne, Terre Haute, Ind., 38-41--79
Kenny Wilson, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 41-38--79
Jason Harris, Clemmons, N.C., 41-38--79
Kevin Fetzer, Lockport, Ill., 40-39--79
Joshua Werland, Columbus, Texas, 39-40--79
Chris Sylvia, Atco, N.J., 40-39--79
Jeff Duncan, Carson City, Nev., 39-41--80
Wesley Byers, Cabot, Ark., 39-41--80
Bill Bartell, Seaford, N.Y., 42-38--80
Hal Wright, Shreveport, La., 39-41—80
Gabriel Wilson, Hilo, Hawaii, 42-38--80
William Garner, Demopolis, Ala., 40-40--80
Jason Zahradka, New Richmond, Wis., 41-39--80
David Soltesz Jr., Mesa, Ariz., 39-41--80
Kory Oslie, Medina, Ohio, 43-37--80
Shawn Warren, Windham, Maine, 38-42--80
Matthew Esposito, Farmingdale, N.Y., 42-38--80
Kyle Ritchie, Bedford, Iowa, 40-41--81
Jay Kurisu, Wailuku Maui, Hawaii, 42-39--81
Andrew Lawson, Mobile, Ala., 43-38--81
Ryan Johnson, New Boston, Mich., 41-40--81
Martin Catalioto, Ramsey, N.J., 40-41--81
Andrew Lewis, Winston-Salem, N.C., 40-41--81
Justin Collins, Columbus, Ohio, 41-40--81
Guy Yamamoto, Waipahu, Hawaii, 40-41--81
Eric Daniel, Dorchester, Mass., 40-41--81
Michael Faterkowski, Bellville, Texas, 43-38--81
Dave Segot, Bethpage, N.Y., 38-43--81
Rick Lehew, Brimfield, Ill., 37-45--82
Troy Higashiyama, Aiea, Hawaii, 41-41--82
Mark Lyons, Powder Springs, Ga., 42-40--82
Gregg Lavoie, Pasco, Wash., 39-43--82
Tim Studdert, Houston, Texas, 40-42--82
Frank Acker, Las Vegas, Nev., 40-43--83
Gregory Martin, Abilene, Texas, 41-42--83
John Wright, Elmhurst, Ill., 41-42--83
Brian Thornburg, Albuquerque, N.M., 38-46--84
Andrew Freeman, Jensen Beach, Fla., 42-42--84
August Quartararo, West Palm Beach, Fla., 43-41--84
Steve White, Jackson, Wyo., 44-40--84
Scott Turner, Palm City, Fla., 41-43--84
Corey Schultz, Ames, Iowa, 40-45—85
Mark Gardiner, Scott AFB, Ill., 41-44--85
J D Morgan, Havana, Ill., 43-43--86
Robert Andrejko, Jessup, Pa., 44-42--86
Matthew Arvanitis, Manchester, N.H., 44-42--86
Jim Krivanek, Mayfield Village, Ohio, 42-44--86
David Strickland, Anchorage, Alaska, 50-37--87
Wren Fowler, Thomson, Ga., 46-42--88
Lyle Patton, Canada, 46-43--89
Ryan McClintock, Monmouth, Ill., 48-43--91
