After a hectic week, Amundsen enjoys a dream start

Bill Amundsen spent last week working 12-hour days at Skyline Golf Club back in Black River Falls, Wis. But he racked up five birdies in his first nine holes Thursday en route to stellar 67 that put him high up the first-day leaderboard.

By T.J. Auclair, PGA.com Interactive Producer

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- Nerves are as common as grass on a golf course when a player is teeing it up in a championship of any sort.

What's not common is what 30-year-old Bill Amundsen, the PGA Head Professional at Skyline Golf Club in Black River Falls, Wis., accomplished in the first round of the 40th PGA Professional National Championship on Thursday.

Amundsen, making his first start in the most prestigious event for PGA Professionals, racked up five birdies in his first nine holes for a 5-under-par 30 on the front nine at the Meadows Golf Course. The back nine wasn't as glamorous as the front, but with a 1-over 37, Amundsen posted a 4-under-par 67 that gave him the clubhouse lead early in the day and kept him high up the board throughout the first round.

"You know, I had the putter going right away on the front nine and made a couple of putts that I probably shouldn't have, but I also missed a couple that were right in the middle of the hole on the first three," said Amundsen, who won the 2006 Wisconsin Assistant's Championship. "So, I could have started off even better, but it was fun."

One of those that he "probably shouldn't have" made came at the 174-yard, par-3 fourth hole. After blasting his tee shot over the green and onto the fringe, Amundsen holed his putt from 45 feet, getting him to 2 under for the day.

Amundsen had just two bogeys in his opening round -- one at the par-5 10th hole after a poor tee shot and another at the final hole, again, because of a poor drive. While he certainly didn't want to close the round with a bogey, it sure was a pretty one. His tee shot found water on the left and he had to take a drop.

"We had decent yardage over there and just caught a flier out of the drop that I got from knocking it in the hazard and it just took off," he said. "I hit 9-iron there about 170 yards just through the green and onto the fringe. But the two-putt [from 60 feet] was good. I thought I made it. I was cheering at it a little bit."

For Amundsen, the great start was just a bonus. More than anything, he's just happy to be at breathtaking Sunriver because it's far away from work.

"It's especially nice to be out here after last week," he said. "Last week was the busiest week of the year at our club and I didn't have much time to practice and put in four 12-hour-plus days before we came out here. After last week, I was ready to go."

Just like the rest of the 312-player field, Amundsen realized how important it was to get off to a good start at the Meadows Course, which is considerably shorter -- but a lot tighter -- than the host Crosswater Course, where he will play on Friday.

"You've got to be hitting it straight. I made two bad swings with the driver and it cost me both times back here on the back nine," he said. "If you're not hitting it in play on the Meadows Course, you're definitely going to pay for it because you can get offline and hit it off a couple of houses back here. I like Crosswater. It's a man-sized golf course. It's big and it should be a lot of fun to get out there and hit it out there and hopefully we get a good day for it."