Four players step to the fore, but many are close behind
A total of 312 players began the 39th PGA Professional National Championship on Thursday, but only four finished their first 18 holes at 5-under 67. Cameron Doan, Rob Wilkin, Alan Schulte and Stephen Schneiter shared a one-shot lead.
By T.J. Auclair, Junior Editor
VERONA, N.Y. -- Maybe he was just making up for lost time.
Whatever it was, Cameron Doan, the 38-year-old head professional at Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas -- who hasn't played in the PGA Professional National Championship since 2000 -- found himself atop the leaderboard after the first round of the 39th edition of that very tournament.
"I've got two kids -- a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old," Doan said. "I kind of put my playing on the back burner for a while and got them both in school. I tried to pay a little bit more attention to myself starting the first of the year. So far it's paying off."
With a sizzling round of 5-under-par 67 on a hot, muggy Thursday that included a 50-foot birdie putt on No. 14, Doan found himself in a four-way tie for the lead with Rob Wilkin, Alan Schulte and Stephen Schneiter.
"I was just trying to make 4 and get out of there," Doan said, "and it went in."
With the exception of a solid five-minute downpour in the early going, Mother Nature cooperated with the opening round at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Central New York.
Two courses are being used over the first two rounds -- Shenendoah and Atunyote Golf Clubs -- to accommodate this year's expanded 312-man field. Doan and Wilkin both played at Shenendoah, while Schulte and Schneiter took care of business at Atunyote.
Statistically, Shenendoah played slightly easier than Atunyote on Thursday with a scoring average of 74.0710, compared to Atunyote's 74.4103 average.
Wilkin, the 45-year-old head professional from Heritage Park Golf Course in Olathe, Kan., playing in his 16th National Championship, had it as low as 6-under through 17 holes. However, after short-siding himself on the right side of the green at the 182-yard, par-3 ninth hole -- his final hole of the day -- he failed to get up and down, missing roughly a 7-foot par putt.
"The finish was bad," said Wilkin, who has three top 10s here, highlighted by a tie for seventh in 1997. "I hit a great tee shot on my 17th hole, but it bounced into the rough. Then I got it around the green and was able to make par. I bailed out to the right on the last hole and didn't get up and down. But I'm real happy and real excited about a 67."
With Shenendoah out of the way, Wilkin was happy about now being able to focus strictly on Atunyote.
"I think there is an advantage now to playing Atunyote three days in a row," he said. "Now I can just forget about this course and go there. We're playing in the morning, so the weather should be good. We'll see if we can get a few more birdies tomorrow. The experience helps. I've been here a lot. I finished top 10 several times and felt like I should have won a couple of times. Maybe I'm getting up there. Maybe three more good rounds and I'll have a chance."
Wilkins, Doan, Schulte and Schneiter were all one shot better than John Bermel, Alan Sorensen, Bob Ford, Ron Philo, Frank Esposito and two-time National Champion Tim Thelen, all of whom carded 4-under 68s in the first round.
Thelen, an assistant professional from Bushwood Golf Center in Houston, won the National Championship in 2000 and 2003. Like many, he is playing this venue for the first time this week, but didn't seem to find many problems.
"I only missed two fairways today and played very patient," he said. "I laid up on the par 5s, which I could have tried to reach in two. I didn't make any bogeys. I think there is a better chance to score on Shenendoah as the greens are a little softer. A lot of experience in this championship has helped me. The increased field size makes it more of a national championship -- the more pars you make, the better chance you have of surviving these two challenging golf courses."
Defending champion Mike Small, who was paired with Thelen and 2004 champ Bob Sowards, was just two off the lead after a 3-under 69. He holed an 8-foot birdie putt at the short par-3 ninth hole, his last hole of the day.
"I birdied the last two holes to salvage a really good round," he said. "I played the last five or six holes 3-under, which was good because it was kind of mediocre going up to the last six holes. It was a good start in this thing. I don't know what the scores are going to be like. Obviously, Tim [Thelen] shot 68 in our group so it was fun to watch him."
Sowards struggled in his round, posting a 4-over 76.
The fact that Medinah is in Illinois, the state Small, who is the men's golf coach at the University of Illinois, calls home, may be added incentive to continue to play well.
"That's everybody's first goal -- to finish top 20, and then everything after that is kind of bonus," said Small, who played in a pro-am at Atunyote on Wednesday and shot 6-under 66. "But that's what you want to do. You want to come and represent the PGA of America and their championships. So that's what we're trying to do. I've played in four majors but never in my home state so I want to go do one of those."
Bisconti, a 33-year-old assistant professional from The Saint Andrew's Golf Club in Hastings-On-Hudson, N.Y., making his National Championship debut, admitted feeling some anxiousness on the tee at the par-5 10th hole, which was his first hole of the day.
"I was very nervous teeing off," he said. "I actually hit my chip to about 3 feet on the first hole and missed the putt. I was definitely nervous. After that I started making some putts and it calmed my nerves down."
One of those putts was a birdie at Shenendoah's 421-yard, par-4 13th. After hitting a wedge to about 15 feet, Bisconti holed the putt, which got him back to even par for the day after missing an 8-footer for par at No. 11.
"I got a good read off Clark [Spratlin, his playing partner] and was able to make about a 15-footer, which gave me some confidence," he said.
Bisconti also birdied No. 15 with a 5-foot putt and got up and down for birdie from a greenside bunker at No. 18 to make the turn at 2-under. He is no stranger to the Turning Stone Resort, having finished second at Atunyote -- the course he will play on Friday -- in the 2005 New York State PGA Championship.
"I think it's a huge edge [having played competitively here in the past]," he said. "When we played before, the fescue wasn't up. I think when the fescue is up it's very intimidating off the tee. But having played here a lot, we know where the misses are, or where you don't want to be. There are certain holes out there where you don't try to hit it close -- you try to play it away from the pin and play safe. I think it's a definite advantage."
Bermal, a 43-year-old who is the men's and women's head golf coach at the University of Northern Iowa, is making his 12th appearance in the National Championship. His best finish is a tie for 21st in 1995 and Thursday's opening-round 68 was his best start in this tournament by three shots.
What was it like to get off to such a solid start?
"Well, I've never done it before," he said with a laugh. "Gee whiz. It's exciting. When you first come here, I think we all just want to make the cut, or make the top 20, and kind of do it that way. Now it's different. I don't know what's going to happen over the next three days, but it's certainly different now. Now there's a different mentality. When I play like this, it's almost to the point where I think I can win now."
The low 20 scorers at the National Championship will earn entry into the 88th PGA Championship, Aug. 17-20 at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. No one is more aware of that than Bermel, who has three times been the first alternate for the PGA Championship, but has never gotten in.
His confidence grew steadily in the first round at Shenendoah and was "jumpstarted" by an incredible birdie at the par-5 18th, his ninth hole of the day.
"At 18, I about knocked it on in two," he said. "I was in the long rough and hit a pretty poor pitch. Then I made the putt across the green -- about 30 feet -- and, I'll tell you what, it really jumpstarted my round. It was a long one and that really got everything jumpstarted. I felt a lot more comfortable. My putter was so good today. Even when I didn't hit putts today they were around the hole. That's different for me."
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