If you were looking for excitement and hot golf scores, Riverside Country Club wasn't the place to be Friday.
Although 138 of the best golfers this side of the PGA Tour were playing at the annual Ben Hogan Utah Classic, no one burned up the course in the opening round under sunny, but cool conditions.While scores of 65 and 64 led after the first round the past two Utah Classics, the best score posted Friday was a 67 by Australian Jeff Woodland.
Woodland's 67 gave him a 1-shot lead over John Dowdall, a former PGA Tour player from Shreveport, La. A slew of players stood at 69, including Mike Foster, Mike Putnam, Russ Beiersdorf, Briam Kamm, Tim Loustalot, Dave Sutherland, Olen Grant and Dave Bridge.
Among the local players, Milan Swilor, Steve Brodie, Steve Schneiter and Brad Stone fared the best, firing even-par 72s.
Woodland, a 35-year-old from Queensland, Australia, didn't make a bogey all day. On the front nine he birdied the par-5 5th hole, before heating up on the back side. On a four-hole stretch from 13 to 16, he made four straight birdies, sinking a 12-footer at 14 and a 15-footer at 16.
"Today I wanted to keep it in play," said Woodland. "I didn't make a bogey and made the birdies count."
Woodland currently stands 10th on the Ben Hogan Tour money list. Which means if the season ended today, he would gain an exemption onto next year's PGA Tour.
The PGA changed the rules earlier this month to allow the top 10 money-winners to graduate to the big tour rather than the top 5 as in past years.
For the past two years, Woodland has been one of the Hogan's top players. Last year he set a Hogan Tour record with a final-round 60 in winning the Dakota Dunes Open. For the year he finished in seventh place on the money list, just out of the top-5 finish needed to gain an exemption for this year.
This year he has won $69,719, including the Wichita Charity Classic two weeks ago. He's trying not to think too much about the good possibility of gaining a PGA Tour exemption for next year.
"It's in the back of my mind, but I'm want to concentrate on each shot," he said. "I want to control my game, because I can't control what anybody else does."
Dowdall was a Monday qualifier on the Hogan Tour until he won the Hawkeye Open last month, becoming only the fourth qualifier ever to win on the Hogan Tour. He was happy with his round considering that he played the par-5s just 1-under and had a pair of bogeys.
"I didn't play the par-5s well," said Dowdall. "To have two bogeys and shoot 4-under - I'll take it."
After playing in 80 and 90 degree temperatures in all the practice rounds, golfers found frost on the course Friday morning thanks to the front that passed through Thursday night. The frost delayed play 15 minutes and could delay Saturday's round.
Golfers were set to tee off at 7:45 a.m. with the afternoon golfers from Friday going in the morning and vice versa.
After Saturday's round, which is scheduled to begin at 7:45 a.m., the field will be cut to the low 50 players plus ties. The cut is expected to come around even par.
Scores of other local players of interest include Craig Sarlo, Steve Borget, Kean Ridd and Chris Jones at 74, Bruce Summerhays at 76, Brett Thomas and Rick Roberts at 77, Spence Ahrend and Glen Spencer at 78, Brad Hansen at 79, Joey Bonsignore and Craig Norman at 80 and John Fillmore at 89.
Among other players of note, John Miller Jr. shot a 76 and ex-BYU golfer Jonathan Baker had a 79.