Shipley, Jackson near top of leaderboard
By Mike Dudurich • June 14, 2023
WESTMONT – Nine players from the West Penn Golf Association teed it up in the opening round of the 82nd Sunnehanna Amateur at Sunnehanna Country Club Wednesday morning.
By the time darkness fell, leaving the first round unfinished, two of those players had registered rounds that keep them on the edge of contention for the final three rounds of the event.
St. Clair native Neal Shipley, a graduate of James Madison (in three years) and a year away from earning a Masters at Ohio State, put together a tidy round of 68 and finds himself four shots out of the lead.
“This is the first I’ve been here for a tournament and it was cool,” Shipley said. “I’ve been trying to qualify for this since 10th grade. This is a great golf course with super greens. I just went out there trying to make easy pars.”
Four birdies and an unsightly double bogey on 6 puts him in a tie for 9th with 9 other players and in good spirits heading to today’s second round.
“I finished strong out there today with birdies on 11, 14 and 18,” he said with a smile.
That as opposed to the “no start” the first round got off to.
A 3-hour delay allowed the grounds crew to get the course tournament-ready resulted in an 11 a.m. started that was soon delayed for another 26 minutes. Play continued until dark and the first round will be finished Thursday morning.
Those not finishing their rounds Wednesday played until dark, approximately 9 p.m. They are scheduled to return to the course and be ready to play at 8 a.m. The second round is scheduled to start at 8:40.
Palmer Jackson also finished at 2-under par. Jackson made three birdies and a bogey. He also finished his round with seven straight pars.
“I’m playing a lot of golf and step-by-step I’m getting things together,” Jackson said.
Jimmy Ellis was a shot back after battling his way through an up-and-down round that featured four birdies and three bogeys.
Gregor Meyer finished at 2-over after recording three birdies but getting dinged by five bogeys.
Tanner Johnson struggled on the front nine of his round with three bogeys and matched that number on the back to also finish at 2-over par.
Four bogeys and a double to go with two birdies wrapped up the day of Andrew Friend in his first appearance at Sunnehanna. He finished with a 74.
Through 15 holes, former Sunnehanna champion Nathan Smith was 4-over Wednesday.
Jimmy Meyers had a tough day, finishing with 76, one shot ahead of Brady Pevarnik.
Thirty players posted rounds of par or below, 20 shot below par.
There was no further rain at Sunnehanna and with the winds that blew there Wednesday, the course should dry out a bit and be a bit firmer for Thursday’s round.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and 34,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.