Friday, June 20, 1997

Forth Worth golfer holds first-round lead

By TED DUNNAM / Abilene Reporter-News

When they go out shooting at his lead today, he'll be Grace under fire.

Thursday, he was simply Grace under par, which was good enough for a one-shot lead after the first round of the 69th annual Men's West Texas Golf Championship at Fairway Oaks Country Club.

John Grace of Fort Worth, the defending Men's West Texas champion, fashioned a bogey-free three-under-par 69 to take a one-stroke lead over Buddy Trumpf of Wichita Falls. Two shots back - and the only other player under par - was Abilene's Tim Hamilton, who shot a 71.

Grace hit 11 of 14 fairways and ran into trouble on just one hole, the par-5 14th. He hit his second shot into the water, but still managed to salvage par with solid iron play he exhibited all day.

"I hit an 8-iron in close and made the putt," he said. "That was really my only close call to a bogey. I didn't make any long putts today, but I made just about everything in the 3-8 foot range.

"This course is in the best shape I've ever seen it. The greens putted very true."

Grace birdied the first hole from six feet, collected a two-putt birdie at the par-5 ninth and then hit a 5-iron within 18 inches at the par-3 16th for an easy birdie.

Grace, who won the Texas Mid-Amateur here in 1992 and was runner-up for the Men's West Texas title at Fairway Oaks in 1991, entered the tournament playing well. He finished fifth in the Texas Amateur two weeks ago, shooting scores of 70, 73, 72 and 71.

"The wind was blowing about 15 miles an hour today, so it was something you had to deal with. But that's OK. I like a little wind," Grace said.

Grace said he would have taken a 69 before his round started "especially when I saw that the wind was getting up."

Trumpf was four-under par after birdieing the 10th hole, but lost two strokes coming in. Nevertheless, he finds himself in a cozy position entering today's second round.

"In all honesty, this is my favorite golf course of any that I've ever played," Trumpf said. "They've really got some great holes out here, and this course can play different every time you play it.

"I started out really good today, and then scraped it pretty hard coming home."

Trumpf, playing in the first group of the day, birdied the first hole from 15 feet. He also birdied the par-5 third hole from 15 feet and "almost holed out for an eagle on No. 9" before settling for birdie.

He sank another 15-footer for birdie at 10 before bogeys at 11 and 13 brought him back to 2 under. He safely got home with five pars to post an impressive early score.

"I really enjoy this course," Trumpf said. "I've played at Hazeltine in the U.S. Mid-Amateur, but every time someone asks me what my favorite course is, I say this one. I just remember what this course first looked like and what it looks like now. It's really in great shape."

Hamilton had the most adventuresome round of the day with birdies at the second, fourth, seventh, ninth, 10th and 18th holes. Those were offset with one double-bogey and three bogeys.

Shooting even-par rounds were Hal Schauer, Alex Armstrong and Ed Brooks. Three other players, including Texas A&M all-American Ty Cox, were at 73.