2012 Firecracker Open – 2nd Round Results, 3rd Round Tee Times

Kody King awoke from his golfing hybernation state and fired an eight under par 63 to finish -9 for the first two rounds and tie Dillion Rust for the lead headed into the final round of the 2012 Firecracker Open Championship.

King, the current Austin Men's City Champion and the 2011 Austin Amateur Golfer of year hit it close all day long and made some putts on the challenging greens of Lions Municipal Golf Course when most players were having difficulty getting the ball in the hole.  The greens, recently airified to reduce the thatch, proved difficult to negotiate for most players.

Rust, who is a senior at Central Oklahoma University has posted 66-67 and said that he is staying patient and taking what the course gives him.  This is his third attempt in the Firecracker Open and finished in the top ten once before.  Players on the course were impressed with his play and it looks like he is a strong contender headed into the final round.

Michael Smith, who has posted 66-68 = 134 is close behind.  Smith, who recently won his second consecutive Texas Public Links Championship and finished T9 in the Texas Amateur is playing well and will be a factor in the final round.

Stephan Schmieding and Michael Cooper are at 135, 6 under par and in position to challenge.  Cooper, who has won the Firecracker Open twice, fired a 65 in the second round and looks in form to give the leaders a run for the title. Cooper is shown here hitting a shot the first green on the first round.

Austinite Hagen Fell is at 136 and seems to be in good form.  He has played hundreds of rounds at Lions Municipal and certainly knows the course well enough to make a run at the title. A large group of players at 137 are also in position to challengs.  The group includes Alex Ellis, the defending champion. Ellis, shown below,  has played well from tee to green but has struggled putting.  If he can get the putter going he figures to be a factor in the race for the title.

Jack Cersosimo, who challenged for the Horseshoe Bay Invitational Title, has been playing well as of late as has Logan Boatner. Dillon Sheppard, who played at Westwood in the Austin area and now plays for Jacksonville State in Alabama has been steady through the first two rounds and could make a run. 

Mark Baldree, who is the low senior in the field, has never won the Firecracker Open and would love to hoist the trophy on Sunday.  

Players will be competing to finish as high as possible to gain an exempt status into next year's Firecracker Open.  The top 30 players from the 2011 Firecracker Open were exempt from qualifying for the 2012 Firecracker. 

See a full photo album of the tournament as photos are posted by following this link. Photos will be added as they are submitted.  Jim Noonan and Lorenzo Di Paolis have generously contributed their time and photos to the collection.  Thanks to their contributions. 

Third Round Tee Times

Austin Amateur Golf will post scores to their live leaderboard as the players finish.  Link to that leaderboard here.