Tanner Coble felt good about his round of golf Tuesday.
But he couldn’t help but laugh when he compared his score with that of the leader in the 18-year-old age group of the Kansas Junior Amateur Golf Championships at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course.
Coble, of Olpe, fired off a 3-over 74 to end the first day of the three-day event in a tie for 11th, but because Jack Courington of Wichita carded a 5-under 66, that left Coble — and nearly the rest of the field — in a huge hole.
“After shooting 3-over and still finding myself eight shots back,” Coble said with a laugh, “it’s kind of hard to think, ‘OK, go out and shoot a 66.’ That’s pretty tough.”
Still, Coble set himself up nicely to make the cut after today’s second round should he turn in another round like the one he had on Tuesday.
And he did it despite poor performances on all four of the course’s par 3s.
While he said he “putted pretty well and hit the driver pretty well all day,” Coble’s chipping failed him time after time on the par 3s, as he bogeyed each one.
“The par 3s, I really struggled with them,” he said. “I need to work on my chipping. Chipping will be big (today) around the greens. Fifty yards and in will be big.
“I feel pretty confident, especially since I’m playing my home course.”
That was much the same attitude Emporian Bren Fisher had following his round, as several mistakes with his short game save for his putter didn’t discourage him either.
Fisher finished the first day with a 3-over 74 as well, which put him in a tie for 13th in the 17-year-old age group and just four shots off the lead.
He credited his putting game for helping keep him close to top of the leaderboard, but couldn’t help but wonder where he would have been had a few shots dropped here and there.
“I had about three shots where the ball looked like it was going in, and it just lipped out, for whatever reason,” Fisher said. “It was a struggle all day just to make par, but l’m happy where I finished and I’m confident I can play better (today).”
Perhaps the most frustrating sequence of the day came on Fisher’s eighth and ninth holes.
On the par-4 17th, he had pulled his approach shot and had watched as it took a bad bounce off the green, settling underneath a tree to one side of the green. It got worse when his ball hit a low-lying branch and fell straight to the ground on his chip shot, and Fisher had to settle for a double bogey that put him at 2-over.
On the next hole, after his approach shot landed just off the green about 10 feet from the cup, Fisher watched as his chip onto the putting surface rolled straight for the hole, caught the right edge of the cup and rimmed out, which led to a par.
Despite those setbacks, Fisher played his second nine holes at just 1-over, which put him just four strokes back of Ben Lowman of Manhattan (1-under 70) in the 17-year-old age group.
“It shows even on a bad day, that’s where I’m at, and I’m pretty happy with it,” Fisher said. “I can make that (four strokes) up. I just have to keep my confidence high.”
Also in the 17-year-old age group, Eric Reimer finished with a 5-over 76 to put him in a tie for 28th, Matt McAnarney shot a 9-over 80 to end his day tied for 44th and Fletcher Harder carded a 10-over 81 to put him in a tie for 48th.
Other area scorers were Chad Schmidt of Olpe in the 14-year-old group, who carded a 29-over 100 to end his day in 28th, while Zach Young of Emporia shot a 15-over 86 to fall into a tie for 34th in the 16-year old age group.
The second round takes place today, after which the field in each age group will be trimmed to the top 15 scorers plus those golfers within 10 shots of the leader. The final round will be on Thursday.
Kansas Junior Amateur
Championships
Emporia Municipal Golf Course
First Round
14-year-olds
28. Chad Schmidt +29 100
16-year-olds
T34. Zach Young +15 86
17-year-olds
T13. Bren Fisher +3 74
T28. Eric Reimer +5 76
T44. Matt McAnarney +9 80
T48. Fletcher Harder +10 81
18-year-olds
T11. Tanner Coble +3 74