Rain suspends play at Southern Amateur

BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2008 Southern Amateur Championship | Round One | 17 Jul 2008

The opening round of the Southern Amateur at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida has been suspended due to heavy rain. With just over half the field able to finish their round, three Americans lead the tournament at 7-under-par.

Tim Stewart and Justin Roach are the best of the Australian contingent in the clubhouse and are currently three strokes behind the leaders in T4 position at 4-under-par.

The best news of the day came from the in-form Matt Jager, who aced the 138 metre 13th hole at the Lake Nona layout.

“I hit an 8 iron over water 138m to a front left pin position, it landed three feet passed the hole and spun back in to the hole,” said an elated Jager following his round.

“I got my round going early and was 4-under-par through six holes after starting on the back nine then it started to rain hard. We then had a rain delay for about 30 minutes. When I went back out I’d lost all my momentum and play was eventually suspended because of the weather.”

Jager remains at 2-under-par after twelve holes in T18 position. He’s eager to go one more than last week’s performance at the Players Amateur and secure his maiden US amateur title.

Another Australian making an early move was Justin Roach, runner-up to Rohan Blizard at the 2007 Australian Amateur championship.

“I’ve been playing okay for the last few months but my putting has really been letting me down,” said Roach after his round.

“The course is pretty wet and I just hung in there today and managed birdies on holes 2, 5, 6 and 7 on my back nine which is a great start considering the conditions.”

Tim Stewart was one of the fortunate players to secure an early tee time today and managed to complete his opening round with minimal disruptions. This was despite not having the benefit of a full practice round on the back nine at Lake Nona Golf Club because of yesterday’s weather.

“It was a solid opening round,” remarked the 2007 Australian Amateur and Singapore Open Amateur champion.

“It only started to rain hard on the last two holes and, whilst I usually like to see the whole course before I play, it’s all in front of you here and that helped today.”

I like Stewart’s chances this week at Lake Nona Golf Club. He’s one of the world’s most seasoned amateurs and he only needs to be in the hunt come Saturday’s final round and he’ll be a real prospect to add to the Australian collection of US victories this summer.

If both Jager and Stewart can keep the momentum going, we should see some movement from two of Australia’s most promising amateurs.

Play will resume early tomorrow and combine the opening two rounds, before the cut of low 66 scorers and ties is determined.