All sorts of crazy things were happening as the Men's State Amateur golf tournament got under way Wednesday at Hobble Creek Golf Course.
How about Doug Oldroyd sinking a 200-yard shot for a birdie right after incurring a two-shot penalty for an out-of-bounds shot? Or Bruce Summerhays Jr. being assessed a two-stroke penalty for simply showing a playing partner which club he used on a par-3 hole? Or David Booth getting penalized one shot for taking six seconds too long to hit his tee shot?Or how about the rare double-eagle made by Casey Beck at the par-5 13th hole or the hole-in-one by Neil Martin at No. 10 on his first shot of the day? Then there were the two excellent players, who shall remain nameless, who took scores of 10 and 8, respectively on par-3 holes.
Almost lost in the shuffle of Wednesday's strange happenings was the play of Jon Fister Jr., who for the second year in a row, is the first-round State Am leader.
Fister, a 22-year-old who works as a starter at the new Sun Hills Golf Course in Layton, shot a 5-under-par 66, which gave him a one-shot lead over Utah State golfer Todd Tanner and Chris Myrick, who just completed his eligibility at Weber State.
It was a year ago at Logan Country Club that Fister shot a 5-under-par 65 to take the first-round lead, only to shoot a 74 the following day.
Two shots back at 68 are three golfers, BYU's Will Huish, Scott Hailes, who just finished his freshman year on the Wright State (Ohio) and Provo attorney Doug Baxter, who happens to be the chairman of this year's State Am tourney.
Two more golfers, Cedar City's Tom Johnson and Salt Lake's Brandon Hargett shot 69, while four golfers including two-time champion Doug Bybee are at 70.
After Thursday's second round of medal play, the 148-player field will be whittled to 31 plus defending champion Jason Wight. Those 32 will start match play Friday morning and by Sunday just two players will be left for a 36-hole finale.
While a some players thought the Hobble Creek course wasn't worthy of a State Amateur because of it relative shortness, the course proved otherwise on a hot opening day. Only 12 players broke par, while 29 players failed to break 80.
"I think the course held its own today," said longtime head pro Sonny Braun.
Oldroyd, one of the four players at 70, had two of the oddest holes anyone could have at No. 16 and No. 18.
At the par-3 16th, he had an "impossible" shot from the right of the green. After mis-hitting his ball a couple of feet, he chipped his next shot in for par.
Then at the par-5 18th, he hit his 4-iron second shot out of bounds into the road. So he took a two-shot penalty, dropped a ball and promptly hit his next 4-iron shot into the hole for an unlikely birdie.
At least Oldroyd had something to smile about after his penalty. The unfortunate penalties to Summerhays and Booth will really hurt if either misses the cut by a shot or two. Both ended up with 75s.
The 18-year-old Summerhays innocently showed a playing partner which club he used, which is a violation of the rules. A rules official happened to be watching and assessed a two-shot penalty.
Booth had been warned about slow play and already received an official warning when he was timed at 51 seconds preparing for a tee shot. The rules of golf say a player must play within 45 seconds.
While it seems like the UGA was perhaps straining at gnat and swallowing a camel with those rulings, they were just applying the strict rules of golf. In the latter case you have to give them credit for keeping play moving. All groups completed their rounds between four hours, 15 minutes and four and a half hours.
The most popular score Wednesday was 74 as 20 players hit that number. The cut is expected to come at 145 or 146.
Among the better players in danger of missing the cut were former champ Mark Davis (74), former runner-up Joseph Summerhays (74), Ron Hitchcock (74), Ryan Job (76), Mark Domm (76), last year's runner-up John Tagge (76) and former champion Steve Borget (79).