BRISTOL, Va. – Highlighted by a pair of eagles on his opening nine, former Radford University men's golf standout
Lane Hite (Clarksville, Va.), carded a 6-under 65 on Tuesday to take the lead after the first round of the VSGA Amateur Championship at The Virginian Golf Club.
Starting on the 10th hole, Hite eagled No. 14, then later drilled a 4-iron to 5 feet at the par-5 third hole, his 12th, to set up another eagle.
Following a lengthy rain delay, Hite birdied three holes on his inward nine to grab a one-shot lead over George Mason's Danny Kim.
Hite spent some time away from the game in recent weeks and admittedly arrived at the VSGA's most prestigious championship with a renewed mindset that helped translate to strong play in round one.
“I felt like I was in a good rhythm today and my ball-striking was precise,” said Hite, who has spent most of his life in Clarksville. “I hit a lot of good irons shots and made the putts I needed to make. The course is in such incredible shape that if you hit good shots, a low score is out there and you could fire a good number.”
Hite hopes he'll have to delay the return trip.
“This gives me a lot of confidence and hopefully it will be a long week,” he said.
Current Radford University golfer's
Ryan Rettberg (Front Royal, Va. / 36-34 = 70),
Wes Eklund (Charlottesville, Va. / 33-38 = 71),
Paul Woodson (Powhatan, Va. / 37-36 = 73),
Michael Wade (Floyd, Va. / 36-38 = 74) and
Matt Harman (Roanoke, Va. / 36-40 = 76) are also competing in the 98th annual event.
Following Wednesday's second day of stroke play qualifying, the field will be reduced to the low 32 players for match play. The first and second rounds of match play follow on Thursday, June 30. The quarterfinals and semifinals are Friday, July 1 before the scheduled 36-hole final on Saturday, July 2.
2011 VSGA Amateur Leaderboard
Lane Hite (Clarksville), 30-35—65
Danny Kim (Fairfax), 32-34—66
Patrick Scheil (Williamsburg), 33-34—67
Michael Smith (Harrisonburg), 35-32—67
Keith Decker (Martinsville), 34-34—68
Evan Beck (Virginia Beach), 35-33—68
Garland Green (Tazewell), 32-36—68
Sam Sikes (Richmond), 30-38—68
Josh Apple (Lansdowne), 34-34—68
Jay Vandeventer (Bristol), 34-34—68
Jeremy Wells (Hopewell), 36-33—69
Sam Beach (Glen Allen), 35-34—69
Brinson Paolini (Virginia Beach), 35-35—70
Brad Chambers (Galax), 34-36—70
Roger Newsom (Virginia Beach), 34-36—70
Ryan Rettberg (Front Royal), 36-34—70
Travis Benson (Herndon), 35-35—70
David Schmidt (Wytheville), 36-34—70
Matthew Neely (Monterey), 38-32—70
Buck Brittain (Tazewell), 34-36—70
Ji Soo Park (Centreville), 34-36—70
Conner Hayden (Chilhowie), 36-34—70
Jon Hurst (Fredericksburg), 36-35—71
Scott Shingler (Haymarket), 36-35—71
Weston Eklund (Charlottesville), 33-38—71
Chris Crockett (Bristol), 33-38—71
Chad Mozingo (Culpeper), 37-34—71
Justin Wingo (Fairfax), 37-34—71
Jason Copeland (Virginia Beach), 36-35—71
Lee Fisher (Lynchburg), 40-32—72
John David Sanderson (Suffolk), 37-35—72
Bryce Chalkley (Richmond), 36-36—72
Christopher Kapsak (Richmond), 37-35—72
Garrett Whitmore (Midlothian), 37-35—72
Shaun Griffith (Danville), 36-36—72
Tom Batthany (Midlothian), 38-34—72
Allen Barber (Yorktown), 38-35—73
Paul Woodson (Powhatan), 37-36—73
Seth Norman (Virginia Beach), 36-37—73
Eric Stapars (Reston), 36-37—73
Ben Lasso (Falls Church), 34-39—73
Barry Valentine (Ashburn), 36-37—73
Robert Stallard Jr. (Abingdon), 38-35—73
Trey Wilburn (Abingdon), 36-37—73
Tyler Wingo (Fairfax), 36-37—73
Taylor Hall (Bristol), 37-36—73
Phil Mahone (Charlottesville), 35-38—73
John Phillips (Richmond), 37-36—73
Andrew Tilley (Ringgold), 36-37—73
Mikey Moyers (Stanardsville), 35-39—74
Cory Amory (Charlottesville), 38-36—74
Joseph Evans III (Hampton), 38-36—74
Ashton Newsom (Chesapeake), 36-38—74
Michael Wade (Floyd), 36-38—74
Ross Sumner (Callao), 39-35—74
Chase Duffy (Virginia Beach), 35-39—74
Mike Little Jr. (Hayes), 39-36—75
Mike Askew (Hampton), 36-39—75
Nick Shedd (Williamsburg), 38-37—75
Addison Coll (Arlington), 36-39—75
Craig Groenendaal (Centreville), 39-36—75
Bryan Bentley (Pound), 36-39—75
Jason Schumacher (Glen Allen), 33-42—75
Marshall Bailey (Fincastle), 36-39—75
Jack Wilkes (Roanoke), 39-36—75
Ray Dingledine (Midlothian), 35-40—75
Ken Zecchini (Virginia Beach), 38-37—75
John Michael King (Roanoke), 38-37—75
Ben Keefer (Glen Allen), 37-39—76
Tim Johnson (Jonesville), 36-40—76
Dan Hurley (Leesburg), 37-39—76
Mark Sinder (Springfield), 39-37—76
Billy Mellon (Nokesville), 36-40—76
Jimmy Delp (Arlington), 35-41—76
Tony Good (Glen Allen), 37-39—76
Mike Brennan (Leesburg), 40-36—76
Wesley Liu (Herndon), 37-39—76
Will Byrne (McLean), 39-37—76
Alex Taylor (Roanoke), 39-37—76
Brandon Ketron (Abingdon), 36-40—76
Victor Monte (Manassas), 38-38—76
Matt Harman (Roanoke), 36-40—76
Mike Redwood (Virginia Beach), 39-37—76
Wes Smith (Virginia Beach), 39-37—76
Scott Huneycutt (Chesapeake), 39-37—76
Jay Pinkos (Clifton), 39-37—76
Jake Mondy (Blacksburg), 42-35—77
Connor Hill (Richmond), 36-41—77
Alec Kormanec (Vienna), 35-42—77
Griffin Clark (South Chesterfield), 38-39—77
Mike Kirby (Falls Church), 38-40—78
John Dozier III (Manakin-Sabot), 37-41—78
Dan Hosek (Alexandria), 41-37—78
Joe Morton (Virginia Beach), 42-36—78
Brantley Kushner (Leesburg), 38-40—78
Luke Minor (Duffield), 40-38—78
Matthew Poff (Copper Hill), 39-39—78
Rupe Taylor (Earlysville), 40-38—78
Trip Bose (Norfolk), 37-41—78
Joseph Suarez (Richmond), 40-39—79
Chris O'Neill (Glen Allen), 41-38—79
Thomas Prominski (Arlington), 37-42—79
Jason Drewry (Chesapeake), 39-41—80
Quinn Boyle (Blacksburg), 38-42—80
Kevin Miller (Charlottesville), 38-42—80
Tod Foshee (Chesapeake), 39-42—81
Blake Carter (Bassett), 42-39—81
Francesco Romano (Reston), 40-42—82
Steve Castro (Chantilly), 43-39—82
Steve Nolin (Herndon), 43-39—82
Chris Devine (Virginia Beach), 41-41—82
Dave Prokop (Haymarket), 41-41—82
Brian Critzer (Richmond), 42-40—82
Kempe Holladay (Arlington), 43-41—84
Harrison Vance (Richmond), 44-41—85
Eric Kennedy (Ewings), 48-37—85
Jim McGuire (Haymarket), 36-50—86
Joshua Curtas (Locust Grove), 43-44—87
Scott Rohland (Reston), WD
Chad Jones (Charlottesville), WD
