Sim starts well at 103rd Western Amateur
BY iseekgolf.com | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2005 Western Amateur Championship | Round One | 28 Jul 2005
On a gusty day at Point O’Woods G. & C.C. in Benton Harbor, MI, unheralded Brian Carroll kept his feet planted firmly on the ground, shooting a 5-under-par 65 to take the first-round lead in the 103rd Western Amateur, presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf.
In second, one stroke back at 66 was Golfweek’s No. 2 ranked junior, Rory Hie, 16, of Lakewood, Calif. In third, another stroke back at 67 was Golfweek’s No. 1 ranked amateur, Michael Sim, 20, of Perth, Australia.
With winds peaking upwards of 20 mph, few players in the elite field managed to break par. Carroll, 22,of Crystal Lake, Illinois, led the short list of exceptions. “It played tough out there. It was windy, and on this course that’s not a combination you want,” he said. "It was swirling quite a bit, and it kept changing directions, but I hit every fairway but one.
“I didn’t used to be a good wind player, but in the last couple of years I’ve worked a lot on my knockdown and punch shots. I hit a lot of those shots today,” added Carroll, who qualified for this year’s Western Amateur with a 71 at The Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame on Monday.
Carroll said he likes playing the Warren course and entered the Western Amateur qualifying after he heard Warren would be a qualifying site for the first time this year. “I was medalist at Warren in the 2004 U.S. Amateur qualifying,” he said.
The Atlantic 10 honored Carroll as the conference’s Golf-Student Athlete of the Year. He also was named a Cleveland Golf All-American Scholar. Carroll won the 2005 Chicago District Golf Association Amateur in late June, and in his first three years in collegiate play, he recorded one win and six seconds.
“I’ve been playing well this summer, but I didn’t expect to shoot a 65 on this course,” he admitted. “I expected something right around even par (70).”
Hie, playing in the afternoon, putted his way to the second-best round of the day. “My putting was just awesome,” said Hie, who had eight one-putt greens, including on the par 5, 565-yard second, where he drained a 25-foot birdie putt. Only a three-putt on the par 4, 423-yard, 18th kept him from a share of the first-round lead.
“Today, it was pretty easy, but you have to hit the fairways,” added Hie, who did just that, hitting 13 of 14. Hie, who moved to the United States from his native Indonesia at age nine, advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Public Links two weeks ago.
Sim, alone in third, also didn’t let the gusting winds affect his accuracy. “I like playing in the wind,” said Sim. “Back home in Perth, it gets pretty windy.”
Starting on the back nine, Sim made the turn at 4-under-par 31. A 30-foot birdie putt on the par 4, 493-yard 15th highlighted his early charge. “I hit the ball a lot better than I had in the last couple of tournaments,” he said. “I kept the ball in play, hit the middle of greens and got it up and down pretty well.”
Eight pars on the front nine and a bogey on the par 4, 458-yard 7th, brought Sim into the clubhouse for his 67. “When you play well in the first round, it takes a lot of pressure off in the next three,” said Sim, who advanced to the 2004 Western Amateur quarter-finals. “A 67 is a great start.”
Earlier this summer, Sim became the first player to win the Sunnehanna Amateur and the Monroe Invitational back-to-back. He also won the 2005 New Zealand Stroke Play.
Danny Green, 1997 Western Amateur champion, was in fourth at 2-under-par 68. “I hit the ball real good today,” said Green, 49, of Jackson, Tenn. “I hit 12 fairways, 11 greens and had 27 putts. That’s not too bad in this wind.”
Source – Western Amateur
