Mike Small takes opening round lead at the PGA Professional National Championship
Mike Small fired a six-under par 66 in the opening round of the PGA Professional National Championship at the Bayonet & Black Horse Golf Club, Seaside, California, to take the lead on Sunday, June 24, 2012.
Small started off on the back nine of the course and recorded a birdie-bogey-birdie streak, starting from the 12th hole.
Another birdie on the 16th hole took him to two-under par for the round through the back nine. The back nine witnessed him pick some pace, as he carded a birdie on the very first hole that he played.
Another three birdies, starting from the fifth hole, allowed him to take a one-stroke lead over Paul Scaletta.
“I took advantage of the short holes today, which was huge,” Small said. “I birdied four of the short par 4s. That was the key for me. When the wedge was in my hand, I birdied those”.
White played the first round on the Black Horse layout at the venue. He is now scheduled to display his skills on Bayonet during the second day of the event, which is comparatively more demanding in terms of driving.
Therefore, he believes that he must focus on his driving technique more than anything else, as it may help him increase the margin over his rivals in the competition.
“I need to start feeling comfortable on Bayonet. You have to drive it straighter then you do out here at Black Horse and I didn’t hit it straight today,” said Small. “I need to go work on my driver this afternoon. I think it is more demanding. You can’t
fake it around Bayonet, that’s for sure”.
In the meantime, Scaletta also enjoyed the opening round of his second appearance in the Championship.
He started off with a birdie on the par-five first hole and an amazing eagle on the sixth hole. Another highlight of his performance includes four birdies on the final eight holes of his round.
At the end of the round, he looked happy with his overall performance and said that he was looking forward to make an impression at Bayonet for the remaining three rounds.
Bayonet is as the ranked 21st in the “America’s 75 Toughest Courses” published by GolfDigest.
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