Four different age divisions have taken center stage at the inaugural Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Championship. Over the entire field of elite amateurs, it is one man who leads them all.
Craig Larson carded a 2-under 70 at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington, on Tuesday. The Lakewood, Washington, native is making the most of his near five-hour trek so far.
After a tumultuous opening nine that saw just two pars on the scorecard, Larson settled in nicely on the back nine. With three birdies on Nos. 10, 15 and 18, he was able to erase a front-nine 37 with a bogey-free 33 to take a four-stroke lead over Bradley Karns and Nicholas Bock in the senior division.
Super senior George Walker trails Larson by a single shot but leads the 65-69 year old division by four. Much like Larson, Walker was shaky on the front nine but settled in as he came back towards the clubhouse. Cruising with six pars and three birdies coming in, the Portland, Oregon, native will look to continue his balanced play in Wednesday’s second round.
With contestants ranging in age from 55 to older than 75, scoring was no issue in Tuesday’s first round. A field average of 76.75 was aided in part by Joe Barth. Competing in the super legend division (75+), Barth fired an opening 1-under 71, besting his age by plenty. Barth leads Craig Collins by three strokes as he looks to build on a solid start.
Greg Mokler can officially put the cruise control on despite 36 holes remaining. He leads the Legends division by a whopping 11 strokes after carding a first round 2 over 73.
The second round of the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Championship commences tomorrow beginning at 8 a.m. local time, 11 a.m. ET.
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