Murray Takes Early Lead At Ohio Amateur

DAYTON, Ohio—Unheralded Lucas Murray finished off a 4-under 68 and then quickly turned to his caddie.

“What’d Vaughn shoot today?“ he asked.

He was referring to defending champion Vaughn Snyder. Playing his last tournament before turning pro, he was breathing down Murray’s neck, all alone in second place, with a 69 in Tuesday’s opening round of the 103rd Ohio Amateur golf championship at Moraine Country Club.

“He’s the guy you want to measure yourself” by, Murray said.

If that’s the case, then Murray is doing just fine. He birdied the final three holes to make his first round in an Ohio Amateur particularly memorable.

Murray was an overlooked member of the 144-field coming into Moraine Country Club. The East Sparta resident had spent his first two years of college on the team at Mount Union. He’s transferring to Akron this fall.

Murray had been playing in other tournaments and had missed the deadline for entering the Ohio Amateur - until he made sure he mailed in the forms well ahead of time this spring. He works at Glenmoor Country Club in Canton, which lies 5 miles north of East Sparta, and plays a lot at Firestone Country Club.

He turned in 1 under 35, then traded birdies and bogeys on holes 11-14. After a birdie at the par-4 16th hole, he reached the par-5 17th in two shots.

“I feel like I stole something,“ the 20-year-old said. “On 17, I made a nice two-putt for a birdie. I looked at my caddie and I said, ‘Get me my driver. We’re getting a par and we’re getting off the course.‘ Then when I hit the green on 18, I was thinking two-putt.“

Instead, he urged in the double-breaker putt - “Keep going! Go!“ he yelled as it drew closer to the hole - to close out his 68.

A former Ohio State player who won by two shots at Findlay Country Club last year, Snyder intends to turn pro next week before playing in the Ohio Open.

Snyder double-bogeyed his fifth hole on the day and was 2-over at that point, but didn’t have another bogey the rest of the way. The 22-year-old Massillon native, who was second-team All-Big Ten this spring, made five birdies coming home.

He denied there was extra pressure on him to repeat.

“There’s never any pressure. You just go out and play golf,“ he said. “If you win, you did what you’re supposed to. And if you didn’t, you figure out the things you need to work on and work on those and hopefully you do better the next time.“

Sharing third at 2-under 70 are Ben Boyer, a University of Toledo junior who calls Moraine his home course, along with 34-year-old Mitch Mahoney of Hamilton and Ohio University sophomore Paul Grauer of Dublin.

Boyer said playing on his home course was a two-edged sword.

“There’s definitely some expectations. But you kind of have to level yourself out and figure it’s just another tournament,“ he said. “You have to go shot by shot and you can’t think ahead. If you do that and stay in the moment, then the pressure won’t get to you as bad as you think.“

Another shot back in the 72-hole stroke-play tournament are 1995 Ohio Am champ Alan Fadel, Middletown’s Alex Martin, Notre Dame grad Steven Drake of Findlay, Xavier’s Chris Burger from Cincinnati, Mark Akers of Tiffin, University of Findlay golfer Joe McGeehan of Springfield and Cincinnati’s Rob Chappell.

During a practice round on Sunday, Martin, a rising senior at Indiana, set the course record with a 63.

One of the best first-round stories was Fadel, a former pro who regained his amateur status and then captured the 1995 tournament at Coldstream Country Club in Cincinnati.

Now 54 and at least twice as old as most of the players in the field, Fadel has won the club championship at Toledo’s legendary Inverness Club no fewer than 11 times. In recent years he has captured two club championships at Pine Valley, annually ranked the No. 1 course in America.

Fadel hasn’t been in contention in recent years, but was energized by the new layout at Moraine. The club removed hundreds of trees since last hosting the Ohio Am in 1999, a tournament won by Ben Curtis who went on to capture the 2003 British Open.

Fadel said he wasn’t even considering what it would be like to win a state am again after a 14-year wait.

“I’m not thinking that far ahead,“ he said. “For me, every minute I walk on this golf course is cool because it is so much fun and it is such a pleasure to see such a well conditioned and strategic golf course. I’m having fun just playing; I’m not going to think about anything beyond that.“

Only 12 players broke par at the course - matching the number who shot 82 or worse.

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