Prior to the 2024 Mountain State Golf Classic, defending champion Davey Jude talked about struggling on the greens at Grandview Country Club which was the day one site of the tournament Saturday.
“I struggle some with Grandview’s greens,” Jude said. “You can post a good number out there if you can make the putts, but I always seem to struggle with putts around 5-6 feet there. That seems to hold me back from a really good round.”
Saturday afternoon, Jude found the answer to his putting quandary – hit the ball closer to the hole.
“I wedged it close and I chipped it close. I didn’t really have to (rely) on the putter that much,” Jude said. “I had two three-putts on holes 10 and 15 and I missed about a five-footer on 16, but if you told me I would get 64 today, I would have not have shown up.”
Making nine birdies against just one bogey, the three-time champion shot his best first round ever in the tournament, placing him five-shots clear of 2017 champion Landon Perry in second place.
“I hit the ball really, really well. I missed one green (in regulation) on No. 11, but I got that up and down actually,” Jude said. “Still struggled some putting here, but the reason I made a lot of birdies is because I had a lot of really close shots (to the pins).”
While other golfers struggled with the firm conditions due to the lack of rain this summer in southern West Virginia, Jude managed the terrain like a veteran.
Driving it close to the first hole resulted in a tap-in birdie. Jude then wedged his approach shot tight on hole two for another birdie.
A par on three was followed by three straight birdies before his putt on seven stopped just short for what would have been his sixth birdie of the day.
However, the sixth birdie of the day came on No. 8 after another drive close to the green. When he tapped in for par on the par-3 ninth hole, Jude had played the first nine holes in only 30 strokes.
Birdies on 12 and 13 moved him to eight-under par before he gave one back with a three-putt on 15. Jude closed the round with two pars and a birdie for his eight-under total.
While the bogey at 15 was his only slip in regards to par, the incredible round of 64 could have been even better.
“(No.) 10 was definitely giving one back with a sand wedge into the green on a par-5 where it was so firm out here. I had 20-feet for eagle and three-putted that,” Jude said. “I drove it close on 14, right beside the green, and didn’t make birdie there. Just a few things that if they had added up, would have been pretty great, but I am really happy with what I shot.”
Perry birdied the first hole and the sixth to shoot two-under 34 on the front nine holes. He backed that up with a birdie on hole ten and appeared primed to close in on Jude’s lead.
However, as many experienced Saturday, the back nine holes did not yield much below par.
Perry closed his day with eight straight pars to shoot 69. The top pair were the only two golfers in the 60’s Saturday.
“It was really just a grind out there. I made some really good par putts from like 4-8 feet,” Perry said. “I had good birdie putts, but I was getting too aggressive and that is what hurt me. I saw where Davey was. You can’t win on the first day, but you want to have a horse in the race.”
Marshall golfer Tanner Vest matched Perry on the front nine and also birdied the tenth hole to move to three-under par.
Bogeys on 13 and 17 were sandwiched around a birdie on 16 for an opening round 70, leaving him in sole possession of third place after the first 18 holes.
“The back nine I kind of last some momentum. It gets a little more tricky and you get more frustrated. It is real tough to hit wedges off of dead grass when it is so firm and the ball is rolling out,” Vest said. “You don’t really know how far the ball is going to go. It’s hard to get it close to the pin like that. You are putting from 20-25 feet really often and not a lot of them are going to go in.”
Perry also agreed that the test put forth from Mother Nature made scoring difficult.
“The layup holes, you really didn’t know what club to hit. Today on 17 (a par-5), I went for the green on my second shot for the first time in I don’t know how long,” Perry explained. “I was afraid to lay it up. I figured the better option was to bang it long. Even though that was tough, (course owner) Randy (Scott) has done a good job with these greens. They are healthy, soft and easy to attack once you figured out where the ball was going to end up.”
Four players, Josh Arbaugh, Drew Green, Jack Williams and Isaiah Zaccheo, are tied for fourth after besting par by one shot Saturday for a 71.
Jordan Duncan, Bryson Beaver and Brett Laxton shot even-par for the day and are tied for eighth place.
The three-day tournament moves to Pipestem Resort Sunday where golfers are once again expecting a battle with firm conditions.
It will also be a role reversal for Perry who shot five-under last year to lead after the opening day before watching Jude move by him on Sunday.
“The last two years I have put a good first round in and have been right there at the top. Then I have put a kind of mediocre second round in, so the goal tomorrow is to just be better than today,” Perry said. “It probably will be (more firm) at Pipestem. I will need to hit the driver well. When you get a wedge in your hand it can build confidence. We know Davey is going to keep going and I want to win We all signed up to win.”
Complete results are available at the following link:
https://wvga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/wvga24/event/wvga2491/contest/17/leaderboard.htm
