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Glens Falls, N.Y. – The course at Glens Falls C.C. held its own against the field of 128 competitors during round one of the 26th Mid-Amateur Championship on Friday. Crag Burn G.C.’s Raman Luthra and Richard Rivanera, of the Traditions at the Glen, were the only players to avoid posting a round over par as they paced the field with scores of 71. Jim Roy, of Bellevue C.C., approached the scoring table near the end of the evening with the next best score of the day at 1-over-par 72.
Luthra and Rivanera each found success on the back side at Glens Falls which plays to a par of 35. Both players finished with totals of 38 on the front side and 33 on the back, despite starting off different sides of the course.
To begin the day, Luthra went bogey-bogey for a 2-over start through two holes of play, but finished the rest of the day at 2-under as he returned to even-par. Luthra’s early struggle on the opening par-5 and the subsequent par-4 was compounded by gusty wind conditions that faced players throughout the early morning. “Typically, I have a pretty flat ball flight so I hope the wind blows even harder,” says Luthra. “The greens are soft enough where they are receptive to holding shots from a lower ball flight.”
At the turn, Luthra was 2-over but quickly fired birdies in two of the next three holes, the par-4 10th and the par-3 12th. He landed his approach on the 10th hole six feet away and sank the birdie putt. Two holes later, Luthra hit a 3-iron at the 196-yard par-3 and knocked in the birdie putt; just the second individual to accomplish this feat in the morning round. “My putt went up the slope with some good speed and it curled right in,” says Luthra. He found the front right bunker on his tee shot at the par-3 18th, but was able to get up and down as he directed his par putt into the back left pin location. “I didn’t want to give one away there, especially with the way I started. I’m thrilled with a 71 and I hope to keep improving tomorrow.”
“There are some holes you can try to score on late in the round between 15, 16, and 17,” says Luthra. “You get short clubs in your hand but with the way the wind was swirling you had to keep going back to your bag. Fortunately, I was able to stick to my strategy and hit some greens.”
Luthra was unable to drop his score below even-par through the stretch of Nos. 15, 16, and 17. However, he extended his streak of carding consecutive pars, which started at the 13th, to finish strong at even-par. “Any Donald Ross golf course you have to see it a lot. It’s not that there’s local knowledge, but you pick different lines, you see how greens react, and I’m looking forward to getting on the golf course tomorrow. I like the layout and I think if you hit good golf shots you get rewarded.”
Meanwhile, Rivanera collected a similar score on the back side as Luthra, with a 33 that included birdies at the par-4 15th and the par-5 16th. Rivanera, who started off the back nine, made the turn at 2-under-par after a strong start that included three birdies through the first seven holes. “When I played yesterday (practice round), the back nine was the harder side for me, but today it just clicked where everything worked in my favor,” says Rivanera.
On the front side, Rivanera began with a par on the dogleg par-5 and then bogeyed the par-4 second, which played as the most difficult hole on the course for the morning wave with almost a 2:1 bogey to par ratio. Rivanera almost aced the 180-yard par-3 third hole as he hit a 5-iron beyond the hole but spun it back to within six inches for a tap-in birdie. The 52-year-old Binghamton resident employed a unique putting approach throughout his round as he altered his grip depending on the type of putt. “One thing I did today which was unorthodox was putting with my left-hand low and other times I would go conventional,” says Rivanera. “It was whatever flavor would suit me. Sometimes under pressure when I get like a three-footer, the ones that should be automatic, I get a little tentative so I tried something different with my grip.”
On a day when the temperatures failed to reach sixty degrees, the wave of afternoon competitors faced no real advantage in terms of weather conditions since the wind only died down slightly as the day progressed. As a result, the afternoon wave failed to produce a score better than even-par. Syracuse resident Jim Roy registered a round of 1-over-par and trails the leaders after round one, Luthra and Rivanera, by one stroke. Roy started off the front nine and made par on the first three holes. He then carded consecutive birdies at the par-5 fourth hole and the par-4 fifth hole. On the drive-able par-4 seventh hole, Roy hit a 4-iron off the tee and managed to hit a pitching wedge close on his second shot. He buried the birdie putt and maintained his 3-under-par status through the turn, which was the lowest front nine total of the day (33). “I decided to just keep the ball in play,” says Roy, on his success through the front side. “I didn’t hit driver at all on the front nine. I hit the ball down the fairway and was being patient and took what the course gave me. I made a couple putts and all of a sudden I’m a couple under par.”
Roy’s first bogey of the day came at the par-3 12th hole where he missed a six-footer for par. He committed a mental mistake on the next hole, the par-4 13th, as he planned to attack the hole as if it were the 15th hole, which features a bunker in the middle of the fairway. “I played the wrong hole to be honest with you,” says Roy. As a result, he hit a utility club off the tee to avoid the fairway bunker and left himself a much longer approach than he would have liked. Despite the mishap, Roy was able to save par and head to the 14th tee at 2-under-par. He notched another par on the 14th hole but struggled through his finish on the final four holes.
“The wheels kind of fell off,” says Roy. “I was a couple under par going into the par-5 and I had only about 105-yards for my third shot and it landed on the front of the green but spun back about 50 yards into the fairway and I ended up making six.” At this point, Roy, who was once at 3-under-par through the turn, found himself back to even-par with two holes still slated to play. On the par-4 17th hole, Roy recorded another six after landing his tee shot in the middle of the fairway. He finished with a solid shot off the 18th tee to set up an eight-foot birdie putt from the middle of the green which he drained.
“I knew the conditions were tough and turning at 3-under-par, I thought I was really playing well,” says Roy. “Three shots today kind of turned me negative as far as the round is concerned. But I’m still certainly within reach and there are two more rounds and hopefully I can play well tomorrow.”
The cut following Friday’s first round fell at 79 which means that 66 players will vie to extend their stay at Glens Falls one more day. There will be a cut to the low 30 players and ties following round two action.
By Kevin Solan
NYSGA Media Intern
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