Schembechler Grabs the First Round Lead in the 2012 Summit County Amateur

Richie Schembechler had the chance to completely smoke the field in the first round of the 2012 Summit County Amateur.

He started the round birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie, then made par on the next five holes to turn with a sterling front nine score of 31.

The Malone product continued his strong play as he made par on the tough 10th and 11th and birdied the short par-four 12th to get to 5-under par.

It looked like a rout was on.

But the rest of the back nine didn’t go as well, and that sets up a tight race for tomorrow’s big finish.

Schembechler made double-bogey after sailing the green with his second from the bunker on the par-3 13th, then made bogey on the par-5 14th after hitting a tree limb on his second shot that sent his ball out of bounds.

But he collected himself and parred in from there to finish with a 2-under par 69 and a solo first round lead.

Take nothing away from him for the two-hole hick-up; the 2-under par total by Schembechler puts him ahead by one shot over Dan Metzendorf, who played solid, steady golf with two birdies and a bogey on the day.

Another shot back of that, at even par, are Tom Arison and Tom Seever.

But 31 players are within six shots of the lead, so if the thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow afternoon stay away from Good Park, expect final round fireworks instead of lightning.

In the big skins game, it was a winner-take-all on day one: Shaun Kloetzer dunked an 85-yard wedge shot for eagle on the par-5 14th hole to earn the only skin of the day, good for a whopping $1,430! Congratulations Shaun. Kloetzer finished with a score of 72, so he’s in the mix going into the final round, too…

Complete results below:
 

Mike Witmer holes his par putt on 18 for a back nine 33, in the chase at 1-over 72.

 
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
2012 SUMMIT COUNTY AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Good Park Golf Course, Akron, Ohio
Saturday, August 4th, 2012 | Par 71
 

Drew Thompson’s second shot to to the 18th hole finds the center of the green.