The heat and humidity overwhelmed Wednesday's opening round of the 113th Southern Amateur Championship at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock.
Temperatures reached the mid-90s, while the heat index touched 110. A light breeze existed but barely provided any relief for most of the day.
"It was brutal. It was really hot," said Garrett May, a recent Baylor graduate from Hope. "That back nine, I was struggling."
What was not hot were the scores in May's marquee grouping.
May, along with the University of Oklahoma's Quade Cummins and Texas A&M's Chandler Phillips, entered this week's Southern Amateur as the three highest-ranked players in the field. Cummins, a Weatherford, Okla., native, is currently ranked No. 12 in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking, while May is 22nd and Phillips 27th.
But on Wednesday, all three struggled around the Founders Course. Phillips carded a 5-over 76, May a 4-over 75 and Cummins a 3-over 74. Only Cummins sits inside the top 100 heading into today's second round.
"I think we're all kind of disappointed in how we played," Cummins said. "I was missing shots I normally don't miss, and I put myself in some difficult spots that you can't really recover from."
Texas A&M junior Walker Lee holds a one-shot over former Western Kentucky standout Billy Tom Sargent. Lee fired a 6-under 65, and Sargent finished with a 5-under 66. Three other players -- the College of Charleston's Michael Sass, the University of Texas' Parker Coody and the University of Washington's Noah Woolsey -- sit in a tie for third at 4 under, and seven players are tied for sixth at 3 under.
May, who won last month's Northeast Amateur Invitational at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rhode Island, started hot with two birdies in the first two holes and made the turn in 1 under. But not much went right for him after that.
After a bogey and par to begin the back nine, May came to the short par-5 12th sensing a chance to jump-start his round again. His tee shot was perfectly in the fairway, but he made a poor swing while going for the green in two and found the water short. May bogeyed and limped into the clubhouse with a back-nine 41.
"Tried to get too much out of a club that I shouldn't have. Hit it in the water," May said of No. 12. "It was a bad swing but also probably wasn't the right club. That kind of turned the round because that could have been a birdie to get me back to [1-under]."
Cummins, meanwhile, experienced his own misfortune with a water hazard at the par-5 16th. After his tee ball found the short grass, he, too, pulled his second shot into the water but managed to walk away with par.
It was an illustration of how Cummins felt he mismanaged his round.
"Just stupid mistakes. You can't have mistakes like that in a tournament like this," Cummins said. "I knew I couldn't go left there."
Phillips, a Huntsville, Texas, native, and a key cog in the Aggies' NCAA quarterfinals run in May, made two double bogeys on the back nine.
The trio, which teed off at 12:30 p.m., is the first group off No. 10 at 7:30 a.m. today for the second round. Cummins and May were both unconcerned afterward by their outings and remained confident heading into Round 2 with an earlier start and less difficult conditions.
Cummins, who helped lead the Sooners to this year's NCAA quarterfinals, said he hadn't played a competitive round in a month heading into this week, and he admitted Wednesday he was a little rusty.
"If you don't play in a tournament for a while, you're gonna feel a little different," Cummins said. "Our group will be ready to go tomorrow."
May, a Texarkana, Texas, graduate, said his game is exactly where he wants it.
"I'm playing great. Even [Wednesday], I felt like I played great," said May, who plans to play in the Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur later this summer before heading to Q-school. "The score sucks. The score's terrible. But the overall game, honestly, it feels like I just shot 68 and it feels like I just shot 75, which I did. I'm not worried about it. I just got to score better."
Southern Amateur scores
Chenal Country Club
Founders Course
Little Rock
Par 71, 7,131 yards
First of four rounds
Walker Lee 65
Billy Tom Sargent 66
Michael Sass 67
Parker Coody 67
Noah Woolsey 67
John Keefer 68
Colin Kober 68
Peter Kuest 68
C. Crabtree 68
Ben Reichert 68
Jimmy Zheng 68
Turk Pettit 68
Shiso Go 69
Luke Long 69
Brandon Einstein 69
Kyle Hogan 69
Brayden Garrison 69
Blake Hathcoat 69
Ryan Grider 69
Andre Lautee 69
Kyler Tate 69
Chris Woollam 70
Ryoto Furuya 70
Cooper Sears 70
Koichiro Ishika 70
Jamie Wilson 70
Logan Sowell 70
Wilson Furr 70
Philip Barbaree 70
Travis Vick 70
Hayden Hopewell 70
Graysen Huff 70
AJ Ott 70
Greyson Porter 70
Thomas Johnson 71
Cole Anderson 71
Ford Clegg 71
Hunter Dunagan 71
Khavish Varadan 71
Hayden White 71
Manuel Lozada 71
Brandon Smith 71
Sean Wilcox 71
Tripp Kinney 71
Trey Winstead 71
Brandon Smith 71
Julian Perico 71
M. Sharpstene 71
Aiden Didone 71
Michael Mattiace 71
Tyson Reeder 72
Steffen Smith 72
Sam Bennett 72
Tom Forster 72
Caleb Proveaux 72
Kyle Michel 72
William Walker 72
Eduardo Carrete 72
Matthew Mclean 72
Miguel Delgado 72
Isaiah Jackson 72
Eric Bae 72
Andrew Spear 72
William Buhl 72
Griffin Barela 73
Paul Gonzalez 73
Alex Goff 73
Austin Rose 73
Brian Richards 73
Stewart Slayden 73
Jay Kirchdorfer 73
AJ Beechler 73
Daniel Kim 73
Garrett Johnson 73
Paul Chaplet 73
Sean Meehan 73
K. Mountcastle 73
Jordan Hahn 73
Mason Overstreet 73
Blake Collyer 73
Cooper Dossey 73
Blaine Hale 73
Ashton Poole 73
Julien Sale 73
Nick Costello 73
Sam Choi 74
Sam Goldenring 74
Levi Valadez 74
William Wann 74
Sam Goldasich 74
Nick Duggan 74
Varun Chopra 74
Chip Thomas 74
Jack Ireland 74
Philip Nijoka 74
Quade Cummins 74
Harry Hillier 74
Hunter Wolcott 74
Luca Filippi 74
Kyle Cottam 74
Charles Hillier 74
Eddy Lai 74
Haydn Barron 74
Blake Wagoner 74
Andy Schonbaum 74
M. Schellhardt 75
Easton Paxton 75
Jordan Plunkett 75
Sean Butscher 75
Lane Wallace 75
Matthew Cole 75
Lucas Park 75
Cody Banach 75
Garrett May 75
Drew Mathers 75
Wil Gibson 75
Collin Clark 76
Tyler Johnson 76
Allen Hamilton 76
Jackson Lalonde 76
Blake McShea 76
Brice Wilkinson 76
Connor Gaunt 76
D. McDaniel 76
Leon D'Souza 76
Cole Bradley 76
James Leow 76
J. Montenegro 76
Chandler Phillips 76
Jack Thompson 76
L. Garza 76
Marcus Byrd 76
Cody Argade 76
Charlie Flynn 77
Jack Parker 77
Marco Steyn 77
Connor Asarch 77
Jimmie Massie 77
Sam Meek 77
Aaron Terrazas 77
Brad Reeves 78
Darcy Brereton 78
Amadeo Figus 78
Michael Sanders 78
Hayden Springer 78
A. Pinto 78
Kaiwen Liu 78
Mark Reppe 79
Mason Nome 79
John McGoogan 79
Trey Bosco 80
Micah Goulas 82
Lucas Armstrong 82
Kymer Li 82
Oliver Whatley 83
Nick Giles 84
Devyn Pappas 84
Scott Steed 85
B. Ochsenreiter WD
Southern Amateur Championship pairings
• Today's second-round tee times
Chenal Country Club Founders Course
Par 71, 7,131 yards
HOLE 1
7:30 AM Kerry Mountcastle, Colin Kober, Caleb Proveaux
7:40 A.M. Brayden Garrison, Koichiro Ishika, Harry Hillier
7:50 A.M. Drew Mathers, Sam Meek, Christopher Crabtree
8 A.M. William Walker, Agustin Segundo Oliva Pinto, Blake Hathcoat
8:10 A.M. Logan Sowell, Ben Reichert, Jamie Wilson
8:20 A.M. Kyle Cottam, Eduardo Carrete, Matthew Mclean
8:30 AM Ryan Grider, Jimmy Zheng, Miguel Delgado
8:40 AM Luis Gerardo Garza, Eddy Lai, Noah Woolsey
8:50 A.M. Blake Wagoner, Matthew Sharpstene, Ashton Poole
9 A.M. Aiden Didone, Michael Mattiace, Marcus Byrd
9:10 A.M. Cody Argade, Kymer Li, Devyn Pappas (Jonesboro)
9:20 A.M. Andrew Spear, Scott Steed (Little Rock), Nick Costello
9:30 AM John McGoogan, Greyson Porter, Wil Gibson (Jonesboro, Arkansas Razorbacks)
12:30 P.M. Levi Valadez, Trey Bosco, William Wann
12:40 P.M. Sam Goldasich, Mark Reppe, Steffen Smith
12:50 PM Charlie Flynn, John Keefer, Collin Clark
1 P.M. Jack Parker, Jackson Lalonde, Allen Hamilton
1:10 PM Austin Rose, Nick Giles, Alex Goff
1:20 PM Brian Richards, Stewart Slayden, Jordan Plunkett
1:30 PM Sean Butscher, Jay Kirchdorfer, Amadeo Figus
1:40 PM Oliver Whatley, Nick Duggan, Micah Goulas
1:50 PM Lane Wallace, Lucas Armstrong, Connor Asarch
2 P.M. Hayden White, Dawson McDaniel, Mason Nome
2:10 PM Garrett Johnson, Tom Forster, Leon D'Souza
2:20 PM Jack Ireland, Michael Sass, Lucas Park
2:30 P.M. Cole Bradley, James Leow, Jesus Montenegro
HOLE 10
7:30 A.M. Quade Cummins, Garrett May (Hope), Chandler Phillips
7:40 AM Peter Kuest, Jordan Hahn, Tripp Kinney
7:50 A.M. Hayden Springer, Trey Winstead, Kyle Michel
8 A.M. Luca Filippi, Hunter Wolcott, Mason Overstreet (Razorbacks)
8:10 A.M. Blake Collyer, Jack Thompson, Brandon Smith
8:20 AM Parker Coody, Cooper Dossey, Julian Perico (Razorbacks)
8:30 A.M. Billy Tom Sargent, Blaine Hale, Wilson Furr
8:40 A.M. Charles Hillier, Isaiah Jackson, Philip Barbaree
8:50 AM Haydn Barron, Travis Vick, Eric Bae
9 A.M. Aaron Terrazas, Hayden Hopewell, Julien Sale (Arkansas State)
9:10 AM Andy Schonbaum, Walker Lee, Andre Lautee
9:20 AM Kaiwen Liu, Kyler Tate, Graysen Huff
9:30 A.M. AJ Ott, Turk Pettit, William Buhl (Razorbacks)
12:30 PM Sam Choi, Sam Goldenring, Brad Reeves
12:40 PM Tyson Reeder, McCain Schellhardt, Chris Woollam
12:50 P.M. Darcy Brereton, Griffin Barela, Shiso Go
1 P.M. Luke Long (Fayetteville), Ryoto Furuya, Tyler Johnson
1:10 P.M. Kyle Hogan, Brandon Einstein, Paul Gonzalez
1:20 P.M. Easton Paxton, Brock Ochsenreiter, Thomas Johnson
1:30 P.M. Cole Anderson, Blake McShea, Brice Wilkinson
1:40 P.M. Marco Steyn, Michael Sanders, Connor Gaunt (Cabot)
1:50 P.M. Varun Chopra, AJ Beechler, Ford Clegg
2 P.M. Sam Bennett, Khavish Varadan, Hunter Dunagan
2:10 P.M. Matthew Cole (Fayetteville), Daniel Kim, Manuel Lozada
2:20 P.M. Chip Thomas, Jimmie Massie, Paul Chaplet
2:30 P.M. Sean Meehan, Sean Wilcox, Brandon Smith
2:40 PM. Cooper Sears, Philip Nijoka, Cody Banach
Sports on 07/18/2019