Teenagers can be antsy. At least Gig Harbor’s Chris Tedesco recognizes when he starts to get that way on the golf course.
There was not much the field could do Monday in the opening round of the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla.
A morning thunderstorm, which caused a 21/2-hour delay, and long rounds tested the patience of some of the best amateurs on the West Coast.
And Tedesco, a recent Bellarmine Prep graduate who is headed to Oregon State, passed with flying colors, shooting a 1-under-par 71 to trail co-leaders Cole Lorenzo and Samuel Kloenne by one stroke.
Lorenzo and Kloenne were still on the course when play was suspended Monday night.
Tedesco had one of the four under-par rounds completed.
“(Being patient) is definitely one of the things I have worked on through high school,” Tedesco said. “I used to get bored making pars, and would get frustrated and then I would force stuff. But once I learned hitting good putts and good shots – you will make birdies. That is what I had been doing all year, and that is what I did today.”
Tedesco feasted on the par-5 holes, making birdies on three of them. His last one came at the third hole when his 3-wood approach landed pin high off the green and his chip stopped eight inches from the hole. His tap-in birdie took him to 2-under par.
He bogeyed the next hole, but made a great up-and-down at the par-5 seventh after hitting his drive into a deep pot bunker.
Other locals close to the lead include Enumclaw’s Tyler Salsbury (even-par through four holes), Port Orchard’s Bjorn Bjorke (1-over through 16 holes) and Olympia’s Jarred Bossio (1-over through four holes).
Packer opens with 80: Bonney Lake’s Sean Packer shot a 9-over-par 80 and is tied for 137th after the first day of the 87th U.S. Amateur Public Links at Solider Hollow Golf Course in Midway, Utah.
The two-time Tacoma City Amateur winner did not have a birdie, and summed up his front-nine 42 in this way: “I had more shots on the front nine where I was (trying) for par off the green than putts at birdie.”
He made eight pars on the back nine, and a triple bogey-7 on the 14th hole.
University of Washington golfer Cheng-Tsung Pan is one of the co-leaders at 67.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.