The Texas Amateur Championship is into the second day of competition at Austin Country Club. Here is the trophy associated with the Texas Amateur tournament. The list of winners on this trophy includes a who's who of Texas Golf and covers over a century of champions, with this being the 102nd Texas Amateur.
Austin Country Club has proven to be a challenging golf venue with 100 degree days and 15-25 mph winds. ACC has a rich tradition of participation in Texas Amateur Golf and has hosted the Texas Amateur six time in the clubs 100 year plus history. The Board of Directors and the membership at Austin Country Club are to be congratulated for hosting this prestigious tournament. Dale Morgan and all the staff at ACC are working hard to provide a quality venue.
The PAR group of USGA rules officials are providing wonderful coverage for the tournament with a rules official on every hole, which helps maintain the pace of play. The Texas Golf Association Staff, headed by Rob Addington, the executive director of the TGA, along with Ryan Finn the tournament director are coordinating the logistics of course set up and monitoring the playing conditions and pace of play.
The practice tee is seeing lots of use with players like Michael Smith, recent winner of the Texas Public Links championship, warming up for the 2nd round of the tournament. The wind and heat will again be a factor as can be seen with the fluttering flag of the Texas Golf Association.
The 144 players are teeing off in a morning wave and an afternoon wave and utilizing both #1 and #10 tees to start. Rounds averaged less than four and a half hours with some competitors finishing under four hours. Here is a shot of number 10 tee box. Putting proved to be a significan challenge for the players with greens rolling in the 10-11 range on the stemp meter, high winds and undulating greens.
Jamie Beaman, who lead the contengient of Austin players with a score of 72 practices his putting just before teeing off in the second roung. Of note is his caddy is none other than Roane Puett, five time winner of the Austin City Championship and lifelong member of Austin Country Club. The field will be cut from 144 to the low 54 scores plus ties after 36 holes.