Arakelian and Hughes Share the Round One Lead at the Super Senior Amateur
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - David Arakelian and Robert Hughes are tied for the lead at three-over after round one of the 30th NYS Super Senior Amateur Championship at Bellevue Country Club.
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Hughes, of Thompson Park Golf Course, started on the 10th hole and bogeyed thrice on his opening nine. He steadied the ship by parring holes 1-6.
“I was on most of the greens in regulation on the front,” Hughes said. “I was just trying to make pars today.”
He birdied the 7th hole, a short par-3, then bogeyed the eighth hole. Hughes parred the 9th, his final hole, for a round of 74, three-over. Overall, he was left disappointed in his first ever round at the Super Senior Championship. He’d like to see more putts drop in the final round.
“I'm surprised that 74 is low right now,” Hughes. “I didn't play that well, I didn't make any putts of any length.”
Hughes is familiar with NYS tournaments, having won the Senior Am in 2018. That year, he entered the final day with a share of the lead and won on the second hole of a playoff. This year, he’d like to see a drastic improvement in the final round in order to write a similar story.
“If I shoot another 74, I'd be surprised if that was good enough, so I'll have to play better than that tomorrow,” Hughes said.
The man Hughes shares the lead with, Arakelian, of Hiland Park GC, was also forced to navigate rough waters to start his round. After a birdie on his first hole, 10, Arakelian double bogeyed, then bogeyed the following two holes. He was able to finish his opening nine at two-over, and credited his putting ability to help him work around an uneasy start.
“I made a lot of putts, which is normally not my strength, but today it was,” Arakelian said.
Arakelian made a field-high three birdies in his opening round. His go-to strategy of hitting approach shots short of the pin paid off.
“I was always thinking, after my practice round yesterday, ‘stay below the hole,’... it tended to work,” Arakelian said.
His final birdie came on five, his 14th hole, which got him to three-over. Arakelian parred the four remaining holes for a round of 74. When asked about his plan for tomorrow's final round, he said, “I’m going to be doing a lot of praying.”
Dennis Lynch, who played with Hughes, finished in third, one stroke off the lead at four-over. Like Hughes, it marks his first Super Senior appearance. Lynch (Nassau Players Club) was one of the few players on the top of the leaderboard to go birdie-free. A four-time MGA champion, Lynch bogeyed four times but parred the other 14 holes.
Two-time defending champion Jim Mueller (Orchard Creek Golf Club) shot five-over, 76, and finished tied for fourth. He notably birdied the 16th and 18th holes, but double-bogeyed the second and sixth holes. Mueller sits two shots behind the leaders as he looks for a third straight title tomorrow. Tied with Mueller was Robert Kerning (Nassau Players Club). Kerning finished with a birdie on the 12th, and nothing worse than a bogey at five-over.
In the Legends Division, Jim Hamburger, of McCann Golf Club, built a four-stroke lead after shooting 70, one-under. He turned in the only scorecard under par for the entire tournament.
“I shot under par, so I did pretty well. I'm quite happy with the score,” Hamburger said.
Hamburger got off to a great start. The 2018 Super Senior champion birdied the first hole and later found birdies on holes seven and eight for a front-nine score of 33.
“It was a good ball striking day, the weather cooperated, there wasn't much wind,” Hamburger said. “The course was out there to be had, and I took advantage of some of the holes.”
On the back nine, after bogeying the tricking 11th hole, he parred his final seven holes to close the round. With the lead in hand, he generally took a more cautious approach.
“I just try to play smart. On a lot of holes, rather than hit driver, I hit hybrids, just to get in positions,” Hamburger said.
The strategy was sound as Hamburger had arguably the most impressive round of the day which included 17 greens in regulation. Going into tomorrow with a four shot lead, he hopes for more of the same during his final round.
“If I can duplicate [the first round] tomorrow, if somebody beats you, well, what are you gonna do?” Hamburger said. ”You just tip your cap.”
David Young (Moon Brook Country Club) finished round one in solo second. With 15 pars and 3 bogeys, Young shot 74, three-over. Craig McIntyre (Transit Valley Country Club) and Bob Kubiak (NYSGA eClub - Southern Tier) finished tied for third. McIntyre bogeyed three of the first four holes but birdied holes 6 and 11 to help limit the damage and end up with a 75.
Kubiak’s lone birdie came on hole 5. He made two bogeys and a double, 14 pars wrapped up his round of four-over. John Smith (Colonie G&CC), Randy Young (Bellevue CC), and Mark O’Donnell (Transit Valley CC) finished at five-over to share fifth place. They’ll start six shots behind the leader tomorrow.
Final round tee times for both fields start at 7:30 on Friday at Bellevue Country Club.
