Bucky Coe of Encinitas, a 21-year-old senior at the University of San Diego, birdied six of his first nine holes en route to a 4-under-par 67 and holds a one-shot lead after the first round of the 108th SCGA Amateur Championship at Victoria Club.
The second round is underway under toasty skies and temperatures in the mid-90s.
Coe, whose father, Pete, is head professional at La Jolla CC, finished a shot ahead of 2005 CIF-SCGA Southern California High School Champion Brett Kanda of La Crescenta (now a junior at UNLV) and 21-year-old Sean Shahi of Laguna Niguel, who birdied four of his last 14 holes en route to a 3-under-par 68. Kanda had three birdies and 15 pars in his opening round.
Two-time defending champion Scott McGihon of Bermuda Dunes is in a large group at even-par 71. Recently crowned California Amateur champion Josh Anderson opened with a 2-over-par 73. Last year’s state champion, Jordan Nasser, opened with consecutive double bogeys but rebounded with six birdies to finish in a trio of golfers who shot 2-under-par 69.
Coe opened on the back nine with two pars, then birdied four of the next five holes and added a birdie 4 on the 18th hole. That was it for the birdie binge; his second nine included seven pars and two bogeys. “I hit eight of nine greens on my opening nine,” he said after his round, “but I just couldn’t buy a putt on the next nine. My goal is to try to keep giving myself good chances and, hopefully, make some putts this afternoon.”
See Round 1 photo gallery HERE.
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