Bailey and Elbrecht Lead Muny Spring Partnership After Round 1

Roger Bailey and Tyler Elbrecht grabbed the first round lead of the Muny Spring Partnership with a nine under par score of 62.  One stroke behind were Graham Turney and Jeff Wylie at 63, followed by two teams at 64, including Gene Black/Scott Matheson and Peach Reynolds/Mark Reynolds.  Seven other teams were in at 65.

Full field scores and Sunday's tee times are posted below.

A good time was had by all as they were blessed with a beautiful spring day in which to enjoy the competition, being at Muny and the company of fellow competitors.

Regardless of what score players posted they were all able to have a hamburger, some chips, and a soft drink on the porch at Muny.  Something about the smell of a hamburger being cooked on a bar-b-que grill at Muny signals that the golf season in Austin is under way.  Chrill Valle, who normally does the cooking inside at the grill, was handling the grilling chores during the first round action.  In keeping with safety precautions, the cooking is done on the porch over a cement floor instead of out in the open as in past years. Something about last year's drought and fires seem to have made an impression on all of us with respect to being careful with open fires.

Chris Gordon, shown here with pen in hand, is handling the posting of the scores on the scoreboard.  Chris and Chris were enjoying the spring day.  The scoreboard, porch, and practice range area is where the post round action takes place and players enjoy fellowship and post-round golf stories.  Hanging around that area will provide good food, interesting conversation and generally a good time.   

The sense of renewal was present at the course as many of the long running teams were present.  Karl Holtzman Phillip Vescovo have been playing in the Muny Spring Partnership for a couple of decades and look forward to the spring tournament so they can play a little golf and spend some time together.  They were paired with Kirk Smith and Mark Hendrix and are show here on the 10th tee after hitting their tee shots. 

Speaking of the tee shot at 10…with the north wind blowing 15 mph, that tee shot changed from it's usual benign 6 or 7 iron downwind or a chance to shoot at the green with a driver,  to a 4 or 5 iron that needed to be flighted low to avoid being pushed off line. Hitting the fairway was a bit of a challenge.  After watching several groups go through the 10th, it was apparent that the weather was adding an element of difficulty. Ben Carter, and his partner Brian Kennedy played 3 and 4 irons and managed to get a ball in the fairway in good position. Shown here Carter is sending his shot on the way.

Mike Grindle and Marty Williams partnered to post two under 69. Although Grindle has been active in local tournaments over the past few years and played well, Williams has been absent from the competitive golf scene for a while and it was nice to see him back on the links. He's one of the many very capable golfers in Austin that don't have the opportunity to play as much as they would like due to work and other priorities but do take the time to make this tournament so they can see friends who enjoy the links.

Some new friendships being formed this year with many players teaming up for the first time.  Drew Bell, defending champion of the Central Texas Amateur is shown below with partner Marco Palcios. Their first round 70 was not up to their standards but did not let it spoil their day. Sunday provides another opportunity and they will probably post a better score.  Bell is working and going to school so the end of the semester grind has prevented him from spending much time on the course.  Another new team reflects the golfing communities inclusive attitudes. Michael Cooper, two time winner of the City Championship and two time winner of the Firecracker Open paired with young Austin Cotton and they posted 66.  

Some of the long time teams were not present, such as Billy Clagett and Tim Wilson, who were entered but chose to withdraw so they could attend the funeral of Dale Roper. For those of you not familiar with Dale Roper, he was a Muny product and a fine player. He attended Austin High School and was living in San Antonio at the time of his death.  He was present at last year's Muny gathering of players held each christmas. 

Kody King and Matt Fisher, who were college teammates at Baylor, paired up and posted 67.  King is the current men's city champion and was the winner of the year long points race hosted by Austin Amateur Golf.  What a great year he had, posting second place finishes in a couple of tournaments and winning the season ending Austin Amateur Golf Championship Tournament.  Matt Fisher, who is a fine player in his own right, was in contention at the recent Spring Mid-Am tournament.

Flighted Division