Evergreen – Those slick sloped greens of Hiwan Golf Club caused PGA Tour players to scratch their heads when the Colorado Open was played there years ago, so it came as no surprise Thursday that teenagers at the Rolex Tournament of Champions couldn’t stop talking about their putting.
Some good, some bad. And some downright ugly.
Kevin Tway, 17-year-old son of 1986 PGA champion Bob Tway and the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, four-putted his ninth hole, the 430-yard No. 18, after he slapped his approach shot above the hole.
“The greens are pretty hard to read,” said Tway, who needed four birdies on his back nine to finish his opening round in 2-over-par 72.
On the other hand, Abraham Lee of La Canada, Calif., said he “made everything” on the greens en route to a 3-under-par 67 that led the boys division of this American Junior Golf Association national event.
Lee will turn 18 on Christmas Day and said any putt that dropped felt like a gift.
“The greens are pure; if you hit the right speed with the correct line, it will go in,” said Lee, who shares the first-round lead with Hunter Slatton, a 17-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Ala. “But getting the line and the speed is the hard part.”
Lee watched two of his lag putts slip off the green. Honolulu’s Tadd Fujikawa, the youngest player (15) in last month’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot, rolled a downhill, 15-foot putt some eight feet past on No. 18. Fortunately, Fujikawa drained the comebacker to save par. He finished with a 1-over 71.
“Some putts out here are really quick,” Fujikawa said. “I tell myself to just tap it. But it’s hard to trust yourself.”
Philip Francis of Scottsdale, Ariz., ranked No. 1 among the nation’s junior boys by Golfweek magazine, knocked in a 4-foot birdie on No. 18 following a weather delay of 1 hour and 50 minutes and is tied for seventh at 71. Steve Ziegler, a senior-to-be at Legacy High School, bogeyed two of his last three holes – including a missed 3-footer – to finish at 72. Tyler Parsloe of ThunderRidge High School shot 76.
Jane Rah, a 15-year-old from Torrance, Calif., who played in the U.S. Women’s Open last week, leads the girls division with a 2-under 68 despite making bogeys on her final two holes with par misses from six and eight feet. “I just lost my composure,” she said.
Denver’s Becca Huffer and Lone Tree’s Andrea Watts each shot a 6-over 76. “Missed 5-footers,” Huffer said of her putting woes.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
