MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Jim Doing of Verona, Wis., shot an 80 Saturday in the first round of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. Not bad for an opera singer, especially one who struggled with his putter.

"I managed to three-putt twice from 2 1/2 feet. I just could not make a putt," said Doing, 46, who teaches music at the University of Wisconsin.

Doing was among 264 golfers who began two days of stroke play, with the top 64 advancing to four days of match play beginning Monday.

"I basically shot myself out of it, but it was pretty cool," Doing said, acknowledging he is unlikely to reach match play.

The field also includes more than a half-dozen Wisconsin golfers, including 62-year-old Mark Bemowski -- the oldest player in the tournament. Like Doing, he struggled, with a 79.

"Probably not, really, in all honesty," Bemowski responded when asked if he should be competing against younger players. But the Mukwonago, Wis., golfer could not resist the lure of a national event in his home state.

"That's the only reason I played in it. I've even been exempt a whole bunch of times but I've never played in this before. The only reason I did is just because it's here, in Milwaukee," he said.

Alli Jarrett, the U.S. Golf Association official directing the tournament, said Doing and Bemowski are examples of why the event, limited to players 25 and older, is so interesting.

"I think the type of players we have is the most unique thing about this championship," she said. "You have lawyers and businessmen and people from all walks of life participating. And you have older and younger players competing, which is part of the generational appeal of golf."

In addition to likely participants such as University of San Diego men's golf coach Tim Mickelson, the brother of pro star Phil, there is emergency room doctor Doug Hoey from Holland, Mich.

The first two rounds are being played on two courses, the private Milwaukee Country Club -- also the site for match play -- and the public Brown Deer Golf Club, the site of the U.S. Bank Championship.

In Ann Arbor, Mich., Kathy Hartwiger shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of stroke-play qualifying in the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship at Barton Hills Country Club.

The 42-year-old Hartwiger, the 2002 winner from Birmingham, Ala., had five birdies and three bogeys. She was penalized a stroke after her ball moved on the 16th green.

"I played very steady," said Hartwiger, trying to earn one of the 64 spots in match play. "I only had one three-putt. On these greens, that is good."

Virginia Grimes, the 1998 winner from Meridian, Miss., opened with a 71, and Wendi Patterson-Golden of Sarasota, Fla., shot a 72. Two-time defending champion Meghan Bolger of Oakland Park, Fla., had a 75 on the 6,189-yard Donald Ross-designed course.

The tournament is open to amateurs 25 years old or older.

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