Demsey's 65 leads fog-delayed Stonebrae Classic
HAYWARD, Calif. - Shortly after Todd Demsey finished off a 6-under-par 65 in the opening round of the Stonebrae Classic, veteran Willie Wood joked and asked Demsey if he had played all 18 holes. The former Arizona State standout had one of those rounds that left some players wondering if he’d play the same TPC San Francisco Bay layout that had victimized them.With steady winds at 15-20 mph, and gusts between 30 and 40 mph, the hilltop terrain was more conducive to serious kite flying than golf, which was delayed 2 _ hours at the start by early morning fog. As a result, half the field did not complete their initial round and will have to return to the course Friday morning to finish up.
Demsey owns the clubhouse lead by three strokes over Garth Mulroy, Craig Barlow and Dennis Paulson. Jim McGovern, Gavin Coles, John Kimbell and Clay Ogden posted 2-under-par 69s and share fifth place among that have finished.
Chad Ginn is 4-under par through 11 holes and owns the best score among those who will return to the course at 8 a.m. Nick Flanagan is 3-under through 9 and Brian Smock is 2-under through 12.
“As cold and windy as it was today, before I teed off, I would have guessed even-par would have been a pretty good score,” said Demsey, who had six birdies and no bogeys. “I tend to do pretty well in the wind. I feel like I can control my trajectory pretty well. Everything was working. It didn’t feel perfect but everything was close.”
Demsey missed only one fairway and two greens during his nearly-perfect tour around the par-71 course that currently sports a scoring average of 73.980. Twelve players have posted sub-par scores and only five players currently on the course are below par.
McGovern was in the first group off the first tee and was happy just to finish on the hilly course that features plenty of elevation changes.
“This week will be as challenging a golf course physically as well as mentally,” said the 44-year old New Jersey resident. “It’s the hills. You’re wearing yourself out mentally and it’s tearing at you physically. I played pretty good. I can’t complain. I’m happy to be done here the first day. It’s just a hard golf course. It’s just one of those places that doesn’t let up.”
Paulson, who hasn’t played full-time on any Tour since 2005, is making only his second start of the 2009 season. He shot scores of 78-74 and missed the cut at the Buick Invitational on the PGA TOUR last month.
“The big thing was that I made three 2’s today,” he said. “That was the key. Making three deuces is a huge bonus.”
It’s all a bonus for Paulson, a past champion on both Tours, who saw a different course than the one he practiced on.
“The toughest thing for me was the fact that they moved a lot of the tees up to places where we hadn’t played from this week,” he said after tees on two of the par-5s were moved up 75-80 yards. “It was tough to figure out where the new lines were. There weren’t too many shots that were directly into the wind or straight down wind. Everything was a quartering wind or a cross breeze, you just had to figure out what you were going to do.”
First-Round Notes:
* Thursday’s weather: Fog in the morning delayed the start of play by 2 _ hours. Conditions when play began – 47 degrees and winds 17-20 mph.
* Jim McGovern ran off four birdies in a row starting at No. 7.
* Miguel Angel Carballo had the only of the eagle of the day, at the par-5, 7th hole.
* The par-5, 7th, which played to about 490 yards, is currently the only hole on the course playing below par. The scoring average at the hole is 4.463.
* The toughest hole on the course is the par-4, 13th, which sports a scoring average of 4.500
* Play was suspended due to darkness at 7:34 p.m.
* Second-round tee times will be delayed by two hours as a result of Thursday’s non-finish. The first tee time is now set for 9:30 a.m.
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