Steve Patterson overcame gusty winds to post 68, tie a tournament record for low round, and grab a two shot lead headed into the final round on Sunday. Patterson has been consistently been one of the better mid amateurs in the Austin area over the past decade and continues to post good scores.
Ben Carter, a local landscape architech who is busy these days with Austin’s building boom, posted a two under par 70, as did Cory Brown. Nick Cristea, a former Austin resident and UT graduate who now works and lives in Houston, posted the only other sub par round with 71. He enjoys returning to the Austin area to play local tournaments and enjoy the Austin golfing community.
Crystal Falls extracted it’s due on the majority of the field. Although the course is in good condition with recent rains, it requires local knowledge, precise shot making and good putting on the sloping greens. Set in the hill country surrounding Leander, the fairways often slope and require that tee shots be played the correct distance on the correct line to stay in the fairway. Once in the fairway, the approach shots are manageable although they often present elevation changes and side hill lies. The fairways are in good condition, the rough is often rocky and trees line the fairways so stray shots are costly.
Greens are generally in good condition but are challenging due to substantial slopes. Approach shots to the green must be placed in the correct section of the green or players are struggling to two putt and make par.
Head PGA Professional Wes Skaggs and his staff do a great job of running the tournament and preparing the course for competition.
Tee times and pairings for the second round are available at the Crystal Falls Web Site. Championship flight scores are shown below.
Championship |
Steve Paterson – 34-34–68 |
Ben Carter – 36-34–70 |
Cory Brown – 36-34–70 |
Nick Cristea – 37-34–71 |
Chris Benestante – 33-40–73 |
Dennis Sokol – 35-38–73 |
Jeff Shell – 39-34–73 |
Peach Reynolds – 36-37–73 |
Josh Luongo – 33-41–74 |
Tanner Chrastecky – 36-38–74 |
Blake Stasiunas – 39-36–75 |
Chad Martin – 38-37–75 |
Cody Price – 37-38–75 |
Robert Frazier – 37-38–75 |
Sean Vidal – 41-34–75 |
Wayne Slaton – 36-39–75 |
Adam O’Neal – 37-39–76 |
Chad Henderson – 38-38–76 |
Chase Esparza – 41-35–76 |
Joe Beck III – 37-39–76 |
Mark Baldree – 37-39–76 |
Robert Evans – 42-34–76 |
Jonathan Martin – 40-37–77 |
Matt Fisher – 38-39–77 |
Matt Jungman – 37-40–77 |
Mike Allen – 39-38–77 |
Seth Aikman – 39-38–77 |
Vince Brunssen – 39-38–77 |
Brian Newhouse – 38-40–78 |
David Bales – 40-38–78 |
Jake Ezell – 37-41–78 |
Nathan Shilling – 40-38–78 |
Adam Marshall – 38-41–79 |
Blake Mize – 39-40–79 |
Gene Black – 43-36–79 |
Jonathan Alden – 43-36–79 |
Justin Meredith – 39-40–79 |
Kaden Walters – 40-39–79 |
Matt Wahl – 41-38–79 |
Duncan Burch – 43-37–80 |
Jerry Attaway – 39-41–80 |
John Neis – 40-40–80 |
Scott Charvet – 42-38–80 |
Zachary Juarez – 40-40–80 |
Marco Palacios – 41-40–81 |
Sean Gilliland – 43-38–81 |
Steven Blackford – 38-43–81 |
Tate North – 40-41–81 |
Trevor Spring – 42-39–81 |
Walt Schroeder – 44-37–81 |
Everett Zimmerman – 43-39–82 |
Josh Donelson – 44-38–82 |
Marty Mosher – 43-39–82 |
Mike Aldrine – 42-40–82 |
Teddy Wheeler – 39-43–82 |
James Rollins – 41-42–83 |
Kelly Cramer – 44-39–83 |
Mason Wyatt – 42-41–83 |
T. Ross Henry – 40-43–83 |
James Gustafson – 43-41–84 |
Jim Bechtol – 41-43–84 |
Xan Erwin – 46-39–85 |
David Brader – 46-41–87 |
Patrick Giles – 42-45–87 |
Coty Dudley – 48-43–91 |
Tommy Norris – 49-42–91 |
Kirby Wiseman – 50-43–93 |
James Weir – 46-51–97 |
William Bingham – 48-53–101 |