PROVO — Blame it on today's equipment or credit it to skill, but the top players at the Provo Open are feasting on East Bay's par 5s.
The top four on the leaderboard after 36 holes all played the par 5s Thursday at 4 under par or better. Leader Boyd Summerhays, who followed up Thursday's 8-under 64 with a 6-under 66 Friday, is 10 under par on the par 5s alone in his first two rounds.
"You have to take advantage of the par 5s here or you'll lose a lot of ground," Summerhays said.
Even though Summerhays birdied four of East Bay's five par 5s Friday, he actually did lose ground to Logan's Brett Wayment, who fired a second-round 7-under-par 65 to close to within two strokes of Summerhays. Wayment eagled the par-5 16th and birdied each of the other four par 5s.
"Things are OK right now," said Wayment, the former Nationwide Tour regular whose been making some swing changes this spring.
Ogden's Jimmy Blair, who posted his second straight 5-under-par 67, had two eagles Friday and played the par 5s at minus six. Joseph Summerhays, Boyd's cousin and son of Senior Tour pro Bruce Summerhays, birdied four of the par 5s Friday in shooting a 68 to join Blair at four shots back.
So are East Bay's longer holes just short, or are the players simply pounding the ball? Decide for yourself. The par-5 ninth hole played at 540 yards Friday. Boyd Summerhays hit an L-wedge for his second shot from 120 yards away. That means he hit a 420-yard drive.
"I was driving the ball very well today," he said.
However, Boyd Summerhays, who started on No. 10 Friday and finished on No. 9, actually went on to par the hole after he missed a three-foot birdie putt.
"It kind of leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but whether you miss a short putt on the first hole or last hole, it's all the same," said Summerhays, who had it to 7 under after 13 holes Friday but played the final five holes at 1 over.
The Provo Open is one of a few Utah tournaments that Wayment will play this summer. He says most of his competitive time will be spent trying to qualify for Nationwide Tour events or playing out-of-state mini-tour stops. Like the two Summerhayes, he's aiming for the PGA Tour, either through the Nationwide Tour or fall's PGA Tour Qualifying School.
"Since I've been there before, I can feel comfortable being there again," he said.
Wayment says today's final round will depend a lot on the wind, the firmness of the greens and the pin placements. He has no particular score in mind, just continuing to work on his new golf swing.
Boyd Summerhays, on the other hand, has another low score in his sights — and believes he'll need one to walk away with the $10,000 first-place check.
"There's a lot of 64s and 65s out there, so I've got to go out and shoot another good score," he said.
Within striking distance if the leaders falter are Matt Johnson, Steve Schneiter and Jon Wright, all six shots behind. Brad Sutterfield trails by seven strokes. The low score Friday was turned in by Kim Thompson, who fired an 8-under-par 64. At one point in his bogey-less round Thompson birdied five consecutive holes. However, because of an opening-round 75 he still finds himself nine shots back.
The low amateur is BYU's Jared Overton, who stands at 7 under par, one shot ahead of the University of Utah's Luke Swilor.
The field for today's final round was cut to the low 40 professionals and low 36 amateurs. The leaders tee off at 12:30 p.m.
E-MAIL: jimr@desnews.com