Firecracker Set For Hot Finish

After two rounds of play in the 70th Firecracker Open,  Robert Evans holds a one stroke lead over three players.  Evans shot 63-68 and is at eleven under.

One shot back at ten under are Henrik Olsson, Chris Benestante, and Forest Miller.   Both Olsson and Miller play for Westlake High School.   Benestante is a local Mid-Amateur who is just returning to action after being sidelined with an ankle injury.

Jack Cersosimo is two shots back at nine under while defending champion Nick Cristea and Jake Hendrix are three back.  Cersosimo had the pleasure of playing well in front of his 82 year old grandfather, who was out to watch his grandson play golf on Saturday.

Brian Noonan

Brian Noonan, who won the firecracker in 2004, Reid Davenport and Nick Costello are four back.   Davenport and Costello are also Westlake High School golfers.  Costello has graduated and will be playing for the University of Texas.

The field has been reduced to the top 72 players and ties and it took a score of five over or better to make the final round.

Highlights of first two rounds
In the first round, Robert Evans and Jake Ezell both shot 63.  Aside from a 62 several years ago by Michael Cooper, those are the lowest rounds ever recorded in the Firecracker.

Also in the first round, Stratton Nolen, who recently won the Big Twelve individual title at the conference tournament while playing for Oklahoma State,  shot 38-28=66.  He was three over after six holes and played the remaining 12 holes in eight under par.

Chris Benestante

Even more remarkable is the second round scorecard of Chris Benestante.  After a first round 68, Benestante was two over after eight holes of his second round and one under for the tournament.  He was in about 35th place.  He birdied nine of the next ten holes to record a 27 on the back nine and 64 for the day.   Ben Carter, who shot 66 in the second round and was playing with Benestante, said “aside from a chip in on number 17, Chris hit it inside 10 feet and made all the putts dead center.  It was awesome”.   Benestante has recorded 31-27=58 on the back nine over the last two rounds.  I call that amazing.

The leaders tee off at noon on Sunday.  The back nine should provide lots of fireworks for the fans.  Come out and watch.  Follow the real time scoring via the free Golf Austin App for IPhones or Android devices or via the GolfAustin.Org website.

Full Field Scores

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