THE WOODLANDS, Texas – It didn’t take long for Davis Riley, the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship runner-up, to make his presence felt in this year’s championship at The Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course.
The 17-year-old from Hattiesburg, Miss., began his round at 7:30 a.m. CDT and polished off a bogey-free, 5-under 67 before the searing Texas heat took full effect. He holds a one-stroke lead over Sam Horsfield, of England, and Joshua Sedeno, of Roseville, Calif., in the race for stroke-play medalist.
The second round of stroke-play qualifying will be conducted on Tuesday, with the top 64 finishers advancing to the match-play portion of the championship.
Riley’s sterling round included five birdies and virtually no stress, which is an accomplishment on this challenging par-72 course that was set up at 7,219 yards.
Starting the round, I just told myself fairways and greens and make a few putts here and there, said Riley. I hit a ton of greens, had about five or six shots up there to within 10 feet of the hole and took advantage of my opportunities.
This is the last year that Riley will be eligible to play in the U.S. Junior, and while there is still a long way to go, he hopes to apply the lessons he learned when this championship shifts to match play starting on Wednesday.
Last year was a really good learning experience, he said. I learned that a lot of fairways and greens are going to win matches, so let the other guy make the mistakes. Just the experience of the past two years really helped me out a lot.
As good as Riley’s round was, he has good company on the leader board. Shrugging off the heat and the difficult course, 29 players posted under-par rounds today, displaying the depth of talent in the junior ranks.
Horsfield and Sedeno both shot their 68s in the afternoon. Horsfield, a quarterfinalist in the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur who also reached the round of 32 in last week’s U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, came into today with good form and a positive attitude.
When you’re playing well, you feel like you know what you’re going to do, said Horsfield. You just have a lot of confidence when you’re playing well and especially against good competition.
While Horsfield has lived in Orlando, Fla., since he was 5 years old and is used to the heat and humidity, he’s looking forward to his morning starting time for Tuesday’s second round.
I like playing in the morning. I feel like the greens are pure since nobody has walked on them, he said. I have the first tee time out, so there should be some good birdie opportunities and I’m looking forward to it.
In contrast to Riley and Horsfield, Sedeno is making his USGA championship debut. He got off to a somewhat shaky start with bogeys on two of his first seven holes, but then proceeded to birdie four holes in a row (13-16) and add a closing birdie at the par-5 18th to post his 4-under round.
Among the group of seven players at 3-under 69 is Jacob Solomon, of Dublin, Calif., who had a memorable start to his first USGA championship.
I actually birdied the first hole, chipped in from right off the green and that was pretty cool to get the nerves away and start with a birdie, he said.
Joining Solomon at 69 are Cheng Jin, of the People’s Republic of China; Braden Thornberry, of Olive Branch, Miss.; Tony Gil, of Canada; Brad Dalke, of Hobart, Okla.; Thomas Longbella, of Chippewa Falls, Wis.; and John Mancinotti, of Toledo, Ohio. All are well-positioned to reach match play with another good round Tuesday.
Three notables in the field who shot 1-under 71 are 2014 U.S. Open qualifier Will Grimmer, of Cincinnati; 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur quarterfinalist Cameron Young, of Scarborough, N.Y.; and five-time U.S. Junior participant William Zalatoris, of Plano, Texas.
Two more quarterfinalists from last year, Zecheng Dou, of the People’s Republic of China, and John Augenstein, of Owensboro, Ky., finished at 72 and 73, respectively.
Players from the Houston area who are competing include Brady Price (73), of The Woodlands; Zach Tracy (77), of Houston; and Kyle Hogan (81), of Cypress.
Greg Midland is the director of editorial and multimedia content for the USGA. Email him at gmidland@usga.org.
Results
THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Results from Monday’s first round of stroke-play qualifying at the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, conducted at The Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course (7,219 yards, par 72):
Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, Miss. 33-34--67
Joshua Sedeno, Roseville, Calif. 37-31--68
Sam Horsfield, England 34-34--68
Jacob Solomon, Dublin, Calif. 35-34--69
Cheng Jin, People's Republic of China 35-34--69
Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, Miss. 37-32--69
Tony Gil, Canada 36-33--69
Brad Dalke, Hobart, Okla. 34-35--69
Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, Wis. 32-37--69
John Mancinotti, Toledo, Ohio 34-35--69
Bryce Hendrix, Greenville, N.C. 33-37--70
Mitchell Schow, Ogden, Utah 35-35--70
Won Jun Lee, Republic of Korea 34-36--70
Dominic Foos, Germany 35-35--70
Aaron DeNucci, Clive, Iowa 34-36--70
Gordon Neale, Trabuco Canyon, Calif. 36-34--70
Cameron Young, Scarborough, N.Y. 36-35--71
Ryan Han, Hollister, Calif. 36-35--71
Charles Kim, Cedar Park, Texas 34-37--71
Will Grimmer, Cincinnati, Ohio 38-33--71
Austin Connelly, Irving, Texas 37-34--71
William Zalatoris, Plano, Texas 34-37--71
Sean Crocker, Westlake Village, Calif. 34-37--71
Andy Zhang, People's Republic of China 37-34--71
Priyanshu Singh, India 39-32--71
Caleb Proveaux, Lexington, S.C. 34-37--71
Luis Gagne, Orlando, Fla. 35-36--71
Davis Shore, Knoxville, Tenn. 36-35--71
Doc Redman, Raleigh, N.C. 37-34--71
Zach Murray, Australia 35-37--72
John Pak, Scotch Plains, N.J. 36-36--72
Dwight Cauthen, Columbia, S.C. 35-37--72
Ryan Ruffels, Australia 38-34--72
Zecheng Dou, People's Republic of China 35-37--72
Chris Yeom, New Hyde Park, N.Y. 35-37--72
Shuai Ming Wong, People's Republic of China 36-36--72
Ashwin Arasu, San Diego, Calif. 36-36--72
Joshua Gliege, Eagle, Idaho 38-34--72
Andreas Halvorsen, Norway 37-35--72
Brady Price, The Woodlands, Texas 39-34--73
Brandon Ahn, Glendale, Calif. 39-34--73
Max Sear, Canada 34-39--73
Justin Conant, Westerville, Ohio 39-34--73
Isaiah Jackson, Golden, Miss. 33-40--73
Wilson Furr, Jackson, Miss. 35-38--73
Marcus Byrd, Dunwoody, Ga. 37-36--73
John Augenstein, Owensboro, Ky. 34-39--73
Jake Staiano, Englewood, Colo. 36-37--73
Wil Sheppard, Mount Pleasant, S.C. 37-37--74
Charlie Miller, Jackson, Miss. 39-35--74
Keenan Huskey, Greenville, S.C. 39-35--74
Spencer Ralston, Gainesville, Ga. 36-38--74
Colin Bowles, Oceana, W.Va. 38-36--74
Mason Glinski, Oxnard, Calif. 38-36--74
Nathan Jeansonne, Keithville, La. 39-35--74
Ivan Camilo Ramirez, Colombia 38-36--74
Samuel Foust, Edina, Minn. 38-36--74
Tanner Owens, Milton, Tenn. 36-38--74
Peter Jones, Owatonna, Minn. 38-36--74
David Laskin, Elk Grove, Calif. 37-37--74
Will Dickson, Providence, R.I. 36-38--74
Frankie Capan III, North Oaks, Minn. 38-36--74
Nicholas Costello, Austin, Texas 38-37--75
Trevor Ranton, Canada 34-41--75
Matt Marrese, Bellevue, Wash. 39-36--75
Joshua McCarthy, Danville, Calif. 39-36--75
Curtis Luck, Australia 38-37--75
Chris Meyers, Oro Valley, Ariz. 39-36--75
Preston Ball, Raleigh, N.C. 39-36--75
Patrick Welch, Providence, R.I. 37-38--75
Chase Cutshall, Melbourne, Fla. 39-36--75
Easton Paxton, Riverton, Wyo. 38-37--75
Alex Smalley, Wake Forest, N.C. 40-35--75
Mark Nauert, Valrico, Fla. 39-36--75
Jorge Villar, Mexico 37-38--75
Eric Bae, Cary, N.C. 39-37--76
Jake Chanen, Phoenix, Ariz. 39-37--76
John Felitto, Mountainside, N.J. 38-38--76
Logan Sowell, Kershaw, S.C. 37-39--76
Blake Dyer, Saint Petersburg, Fla. 40-36--76
Dylan McCabe, Sioux City, Iowa 40-36--76
Ashton Poole, Charlotte, N.C. 40-36--76
Michael Saccente, New Smyrna Beach, Fla. 37-39--76
Bryson Nimmer, Bluffton, S.C. 39-37--76
Levi Valadez, San Antonio, Texas 35-41--76
Austen Sandoval, Sacramento, Calif. 38-38--76
Cole Madey, West Linn, Ore. 38-38--76
Dylan Deogun, Orchard Lake, Mich. 42-35--77
Zachary Zediker, Gray, Ga. 39-38--77
Tristan Mandur, Canada 39-38--77
Warren Miller, Bakersfield, Calif. 40-37--77
Sean Yu, Chinese Taipei 39-38--77
Cooper Dossey, Austin, Texas 42-35--77
A. J. Ott, Fort Collins, Colo. 38-39--77
Luukas Alakulppi, Valdosta, Ga. 39-38--77
James Piot, Canton, Mich. 41-36--77
Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La. 37-40--77
Anton Serafini, Lake Mary, Fla. 38-39--77
Maxwell Miller, College Station, Texas 37-40--77
Christian Salzer, Sumter, S.C. 40-37--77
Carl Yuan, Lake Mary, Fla. 40-37--77
Zach Tracy, Houston, Texas 42-35--77
Tyler Bakich, Valrico, Fla. 39-38--77
David Snyder, McAllen, Texas 38-39--77
Alex Wrenn, Lake Oswego, Ore. 37-40--77
Spencer Soosman, Westlake Village, Calif. 38-39--77
Ryoto Furuya, Wesley Chapel, Fla. 38-39--77
Kyle Suppa, Honolulu, Hawaii 38-39--77
Ryan Dornes, Lancaster, Pa. 38-40--78
Justin Suh, San Jose, Calif. 36-42--78
Sport Allmond, Ringgold, Ga. 40-38--78
Jackson Howes, McKinney, Texas 38-40--78
Connor Littlefield, Waukee, Iowa 37-41--78
Jack Trent, Australia 38-40--78
Davis Evans, Phoenix, Ariz. 38-40--78
Sahith Theegala, Chino Hills, Calif. 40-38--78
Garrett Barber, West Palm Beach, Fla. 39-40--79
Alexander Lee, Sacramento, Calif. 37-42--79
Jonathan Hudson, Western Springs, Ill. 40-39--79
Jae Hoon (Ian) Kim, Canada 41-38--79
Steven Fisk, Stockbridge, Ga. 41-38--79
Tyler Tsay, Andover, Mass. 41-38--79
Jackson Bowery, Canada 39-40--79
Frankie Thomas, Chesterfield, Mo. 42-38--80
Noah Gillard, Greenwood, Ind. 44-36--80
Noah Goodwin, Corinth, Texas 42-38--80
Daniel Connolly, San Francisco, Calif. 43-37--80
Jordan Velez, Chicago, Ill. 40-40--80
Joshua Keating, Noblesville, Ind. 42-38--80
Andrew Spear, Flower Mound, Texas 38-42--80
Pierceson Coody, Plano, Texas 42-39--81
Kyle Hogan, Cypress, Texas 40-41--81
Anthony Cordaro, Pittsburgh, Pa. 40-41--81
Drake Hull, Rutland, Vt. 39-42--81
Tom Vining, Sioux Falls, S.D. 41-40--81
Evan Grenus, Glastonbury, Conn. 38-43--81
Scott Purvis, Mason, Ohio 42-40--82
Baker Stevenson, Hartland, Mich. 39-43--82
Bennett Wisner, Hampstead, Md. 42-40--82
Taylor Larsen, Garden City, Kan. 40-42--82
Jaece Stokes, West Haven, Utah 40-42--82
Cole Patterson, Greenville, S.C. 40-43--83
Billy Basham, Louisville, Ky. 42-41--83
Ethan Farnam, Crystal Lake, Ill. 41-42--83
Michael Frizalone, Farmingdale, N.Y. 43-41--84
Gehrig Hollatz, Lockport, Ill. 43-41--84
Austin Squires, Union, Ky. 45-39--84
Noah Henderson, Solana Beach, Calif. 38-46--84
Brian Humphreys, Washougal, Wash. 42-43--85
Andrew Spilman, Simi Valley, Calif. 39-46--85
Jack Kavanagh, Arlington Heights, Ill. 43-43--86
Michael Mattiace, Jacksonville, Fla. 48-41--89
Drew Aitken, Pomfret Center, Conn. 48-42--90
Zackary Kaneshiro, Aiea, Hawaii 46-46--92
R. J. Manke, Lakewood, Wash. 52-44--96
Timothy Graham, Stuart, Fla. WD-WD--WD