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SPRINGVILLE, N.Y. -- Following heavy rain at Springville Country Club that forced players off the course during the practice rounds, the 65th NYS Senior Amateur Championship got underway on Wednesday. 

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Kevin VandenBerg, of Beaver Meadows Golf Club, surged to an impressive lead on the back of a 5-under 66. He strung together a stretch of four straight birdies, capped off with a 60-foot putt on the par-4 tenth.

“Everything was pretty stress free,” VandenBerg said. “I haven’t had a round like that in a long time.”

The recent Senior Porter Cup champion totaled seven birdies on the day, which he chalked up to a good day off the tee and solid iron shots.

VandenBerg carries a six-stroke lead heading into the final round, which he said is a change for him. 

“You never know what’s going to happen, you never know what game shows up,” he said. “I don’t care if you’re up by three, four, five or you’re down by two. Usually, I’m a good chaser and run some people down.” 

Three players sit tied for second and will play the role of chaser in round two, including defending champion Dan Russo. Schuyler Meadows Club’s Russo, Stafford Country Club’s Geoff Wormley and Onondaga Golf & Country Club’s Bruce Levinson all fired 72s to finish the day at 1-over. 

Russo, who holds the last two NYS Senior Amateur titles, held the lead for much of the day before Vandenberg took to the course in the afternoon. 

“When you get under the gun, you have to have a little confidence and eventually you have to get up and hit a golf shot,” Russo said. “Whether you’re playing good, bad or indifferent, when you’re in the heat you have to hit a golf shot.”

Vandenberg nearly chased down Russo in last year’s championship but came up just short. This year, the roles are reversed as Russo will look to battle back from six-strokes down on Thursday.

Springville Country Club was set up at 6,383 yards for the senior division and played to a par of 71. 

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The 26th NYS Men’s Super Senior Amateur featured several players who went low despite high winds in the afternoon. Springville’s own Paul Hoffstetter holds a one-stroke lead heading into Thursday’s final round.

“I was very nervous,” Hoffstetter said. “It’s my home course so I expect to play well. I got off to a normal start then birdied the hardest hole on the course, the thirteenth … Overall, got it around and on the front, I missed a couple of short ones, like everyone else, but birdied six, seven and nine coming in.”

The competition was tight in the super senior division with seven players withing three strokes of Hofstetter’s even-par 71. 

The two players nearest Hofstetter’s mark were Canandaigua Country Club’s Jim Burns, who was the 2021 co-runner-up, and Bellevue Country Club’s Randy Young. Both players turned in rounds of 1-over 72.

Young won the NYS Men’s Super Senior Amateur in 2014 at Cedar Lake Club.

“My irons have been really good, and I’ve been putting really good the past few rounds,” Young said. “I putted very good today. I made a lot of three and four-footers for par, you don’t get a lot of tap-ins.”

Burns finished tied for second in last year’s championship and finds himself in a similar position again. Burns led after the first round in 2021 and is well within striking distance heading into day two this year.

Paul Parrone, of Midvale Country Club, sits in solo fourth place after 18 holes. He carded a 2-over 73.

The super senior division played at 6,049 yards and to a par of 71.

The Super Senior field will tee off from 8:00am – 9:30am on Thursday morning, with the Seniors teeing off for their final round in the afternoon from 12:30 – 2:00pm.