Second-Round Notebook: 18 Holes And More
For Some
By Ken Klavon, USGA
BALTIMORE, Md. – The second round made for a long day for
some players.
On Thursday, when the USGA suspended play in the evening,
10 groups were still on the course. All had to complete their
rounds, and then begin the second verse in the morning.
Leader Walter Hall was one of those players caught when the
downpour, threaded with lightning, hit the area. He had been
on No. 16, a notorious 430-yard par 4 slight dogleg left,
surveying a 7-foot putt for birdie.
He wound up taking par.
“When the greens are soft like they were when we started,”
he said, “it’s a good news, bad news story. With the soft
greens you get waffle pads out there; that can affect the
putt more so than if the greens are firm.”
The final three holes are killers because of the hilliness
and undulating greens. They will make or break a round. Just
ask Isao Aoki, who triple-bogeyed the hole in the first round
and had to settle for a 2-under 69, instead of what could
have been 5 under.
“Someone should bury that bunker on 18,” said Aoki, in reference
to the havoc it caused.
In any event, Hall finished with three consecutive pars to
close out the round with a 1-under 70.
A few minutes of rest and he headed to the 10th
tee for round two. Strategy surfaced. Knowing the final three
holes played into a downwind, Hall thought he had a little
leeway to be conservative.
He birdied 13, 14 and 15, then duplicated first-round pars
on 16, 17 and 18.
“I knew that when I got to 4-under making the turn, even
if I made bogey on 17 or 18, or even both of them, I still
had some good birdie holes on the front with 1, 2 and 3,”
said Hall.
Which was true. In terms of scoring, through the first two
rounds the second and third holes played the easiest. By comparison,
the 17th was the hardest and the 18th
the second hardest.
None too happy was Allen Doyle. Another player forced to
close out his first round Friday, he bogeyed No. 17 and 18,
entering the next round 1 under. It wasn’t so much the bogeys
that peeved him; rather, the slow pace of play was the chief
irritant.
“There were guys that teed off after us on the back nine
that finished,” he said. “But I’ve got to come back out and
play 17 and 18 and go bogey, bogey.”
Tom Kite, playing in Doyle’s group, had driven to a hill
on the right side of the hole on No. 17 just as the rain hit.
A reasonable lie made him think he could chop it on the green
with a 5-wood. But instead of striking the ball so it would
squirt to the green, he inadvertently went underneath it.
The ball landed in a bunker. The siren blew.
“I tossed and turned a little bit thinking about that one
particular shot all night last night,” said Kite.
In the morning, he would two-putt for bogey.
Broken Club
Fred Gibson, battling fluid on the lungs, stayed the course
and equaled his 69 score in the second round. This time, though,
he had to do it with a busted driver for a couple of holes.
Seems it came apart after his drive on No. 16, six holes
into his round.
Thinking he hit it on the heel on 16, he placed the club
to the surface on the next teeing ground and heard crackling.
A touch of pressure forced the head to snap off.
“I was lucky,” he said. “If I would have made one more swing
with the club, it could have killed me, flung off there and
run up and hit me or someone in the crowd.”
A swift carrier delivered a new driver on No. 18 in the nick
of time. Gibson was approaching his ball as it was passed
through the ropes.
Had it not arrived, Gibson would have been forced to use
a 3-wood, which definitely makes a difference on the challenging
uphill par 4.
Low Amateur
If there were such a thing as a professional amateur, Paul
Simson would be it. The insurance company vice-president
from North Carolina has played in 12 U.S. Amateurs, 11 Mid-Amateurs,
one Junior Amateur and won low amateur honors at last year’s
Senior Open. He twice made it to the semifinals in the Mid-Am,
in 1991 and 1998.
This week at the Senior Open, Simson is again setting a pace
all amateur golfers can be proud of. He tore through Caves
Valley right out of the gate, netting three birdies in the
first five holes. He ended the first round with a 1-under-par
70, the only amateur to beat par at Caves Valley on Thursday.
Unfortunately, his first five holes included more birdies
than he would score in the next 31. Simson had a rough time
in the second round, ending the day 5 over to put his total
score for the first two rounds at a 4-over 146. The round
ended on an especially sour note, with Simson three-putting
the green to score a double bogey on No. 18.
Although not in the hunt for a likely victory at Caves Valley,
Simson remains well-placed to take low amateur honors for
his second consecutive Senior Open. Fellow amateur Bob Clark
stands at 6-over, two strokes behind Simson.
Withdrawals
Mike McCullough of Scottsdale, Ariz., withdrew Friday morning
at 6 over. He had one hole remaining in the first round before
play was suspended.
A back problem forced Rob Schaal of Bridgewater, N.J., to
withdraw as well on Friday. He had three holes to play Thursday
and was 5 over before the rain hit.
To The Rear
Proving that nerves get to everybody, Steve Wolf is bringing
up the rear at the halfway mark of the U.S. Senior Open. After
shooting 96, 25-over-par in the first round he followed it
up with an 11-over-par 82.
Wolf, a biology teacher and golf coach at Lodi High School
in California has an unusual putting technique. He stands
to the side of the ball and putts from the right facing the
hole.
Wolf's son Kevin, who is also his caddie, said that his dad
has putted that way for 20 years, long before the advent of
the belly putter.
George Allen, on the other hand, shot a 96 in the first round
and then made up 20 strokes in the second round, shooting
a five-over-par 76.
"I had a phone call from a fried of mine who said just
go out and have some fun, play like you play at home, and
that is what I did," said Allen. "I kept
going left yesterday. I got up this morning and
went to the practice range and started hitting some balls. It
just clicked and I got through the ball well today."
No Bogey Man
Second-round leader Walter Hall started the Senior Open with
consecutive bogeys, but he has yet to make another and is
a cumulative 9 under for his other 34 holes.
After breaking par in just two of 12 rounds in U.S. Senior
Open competitions prior to Caves Valley, Hall broke 70 for
the first time ever with his 6-under 65 Friday. Hall's round
equaled the U.S. Senior Open record for best second-round
score (Jim
Thorpe twice, Tom Kite and Gary Player) and also equaled
his lowest score on the Senior Tour in 2002.
His best finish in a Senior Open is a tie for 19th last year
at Salem CC near Boston.
Irwin’s Streak
Two-time U.S. Senior Open champion Hale Irwin's score of
5-over-par 147 made the cut. However, the 57-year-old Irwin
is in a tie for 45th at the halfway point and is in danger
of not finishing among the top six in a Senior Tour event
for the first time since the season opening MasterCard Championship
(T24) in January.
Irwin's been among the top-six finishers in 11 straight Senior
tournaments to date, with victories at the ACE Group Classic
and Toshiba Senior Classic during that stretch.
Notable
This year's cut came at 7-over-par 149, with 63 players (61
professionals, two amateurs) qualifying for weekend play at
Caves Valley. Last year at Salem C.C., 64 players (60 professionals,
four amateurs) made the 36-hole cut at 9-over 149. ... Defending
champion Bruce Fleisher missed the cut after posting a 36-hole
score of 9-over 151. The last time a defending
U.S. Senior Open champion did not play on the weekend was
in 1998 when Graham Marsh missed the cut at Riviera CC in
Los Angeles.
Kevin McManemin contributed.
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