Finally, if only for a couple of holes, the amateur faltered.
A couple of wayward tee shots on the first and last holes put Tom Glissmeyer 6-over- par, allowing John Douma and the rest of the field to reel him back in Saturday in the third round of the Colorado Open.
“If I just make par there, I’d be in fine shape,” Glissmeyer said. “I’m still in fine shape, two strokes behind, and two strokes can change in the blink of an eye.”
Douma shot a 1-under 70, putting his three-day total two ahead of Glissmeyer and three ahead of Jason Preeo and Brian Kortan, who sit at 203.
Glissmeyer, a 20-year-old Colorado Springs native who just finished his sophomore season at Southern California, entered Saturday’s round three shots ahead of the field after turning in a 63 and a 64 on the first two days.
And with Green Valley Ranch Golf Club playing tough, Glissmeyer still turned in a pretty solid third round. Except for those two holes. Simply making par would have kept Douma at bay and given Glissmeyer a commanding lead heading into the final day, but he`’s not going to focus on a couple of errant drives.
“My rough round was only two shots that cost me six strokes,” Glissmeyer said. “I hit a lot of good shots today. I’m going to stay focused on those and hopefully put together a pretty good round (today).”
It will take a good round to catch Douma, who fought his way through rough conditions to take the lead.
“Our group struggled today we had a hard time making putts,” said Douma, a native of Scottsdale, Ariz. “I had to grind today for the 1-under par, but overall I think I’m going to be in good shape.”
Glissmeyer and Douma will have to deal with a course that isn’t quite as forgiving as it was Friday, when Douma shot a 61 and Nicholas Mason pulled off a 60 to play in the final group with Glissmeyer and Douma on Saturday.
Playing late in the day, no approach shot was holding the firm greens. But no one was expecting better conditions today, especially playing late in the afternoon as one of the last groups.
“We’ll be going off in the afternoon again after a bunch of tee times,” Mason said. “It’ll play even tougher, especially if the wind comes up like it did today.”
Wind certainly didn’t help Glissmeyer, whose troubles on 18 partially could be attributed to a microburst that sprang up and helped his shot sail into no-man’s land. But despite the setback, he has impressed the professionals surrounding him at the top of the leaderboard.
“His maturity is well beyond his age,” Douma said. “He struggled on the beginning, struggled on the end, but he’s been a gentleman throughout all of it. He’s got a lot of game.”
And Glissmeyer isn’t the only amateur in position to make a run at a title today. On the women’s side, Longmont’s Kelly Jacques sits at 2-under, one stroke behind leader Walailak Satarak.
Satarak and Jacques shot 69 and 70, respectively, to put three strokes between them and the rest of a field in which nine women opened the day within two strokes of each other.
Joel A. Erickson can be reached at 303-954-1033 or jerickson@denverpost.com.
