by Sept. 7 — Spencer Skiff hasn’t always gotten off to the best start at the Aiken City Amateur Championship, which has been frustrating considering how good a golfer he is and how familiar he is with the golf course.
A good omen for the 15th edition of the tournament came to Skiff in the form of Saturday’s opening tee time at Aiken Golf Club, a coveted slot that allows the lucky group to play as quickly as they want.
That alone was reason to smile, and there was even more to smile about by the time Skiff finished his round – he had the lowest score in his group with a 66, which held up the rest of the day to put him a one-point lead over Scott Robbins heading into Sunday’s final round.
“I was just happy to finally get a good first round,” Skiff said with a laugh. “I usually come here and don’t play well, so it’s going to be a fun weekend. I feel like the scores are going to be really low this weekend, so I was happy to get a good first round and see how tomorrow goes.”
Skiff will move from the first group on Saturday to the final Sunday, the only start more coveted than the very first of the tournament. The rain that fell on Friday night continued into Saturday morning, meaning those who started first did not face the usual speed and firmness that one would expect.
“With the placement of some of those flags, it may have given us an advantage,” Skiff said. “Some of the flags are on pretty tough slopes. I made a couple of downhill putts that, if they were later in the day, I don’t know if you’d stop the ball. One of them hit the flag to stop, so that was good. I think that was a good advantage. We’ll see how this afternoon goes. The greens are going to be a little quicker, so the scores will probably still be pretty low.”
Six-time champion Patrick Cunning is three shots back after an afternoon round of 69, with two-time champion Brian Quackenbush and perennial contenders Bo McCullough and Kyle Bearden a shot back.
David Lott, the defending champion who also won in 2020, and Dylan Murray are five points back with 71.
Skiff hadn’t played the course in a while, but he’s developed a solid knowledge of the course and he thinks it’s finally paid off. Some of the flag and tee locations aren’t in play the other 363 days of the year, which gives Skiff a certain confidence and composure because he’s played it enough to know where to place the ball.
There was also the comfort of the first group of the day, where he was joined by McCullough, Robbins and Frank Morelli. Tournament play, especially in one with such a large field, can get bogged down and turn into a marathon day. Teeing off first, however, felt more like a regular day at Aiken Golf Club.
“That’s one of the hardest parts of this tournament, at least in the past, especially in the second round,” Skiff said. “The pace of play is always a lot slower than what you’re used to here, so staying in your bubble definitely helps. Being in the first group, not having to worry about it, was awesome. We had a really good group. It was a good time. The pace of play was never an issue. It was just kind of like a normal dogfight round, honestly, which I think helped.”
Jim Boughner (70) leads Dan Skiff (71) and Randy Lamb (74) in the Senior category. Glen Hurt (72) topped the Super Seniors category, with Jim Roland (75) as the closest competitor.
