Greyserman In Front at 105th Open Championship presented by Donnelly Industries
GLADSTONE, N.J. –– Dean Greyserman of Hamilton Farm Golf Club leads the field by three strokes after 18 holes during the first round at the 105th New Jersey Open Championship presented by Donnelly Industries with a mighty 8-under par 64.
“I feel good,” Greyserman said. “Obviously a very good round. I hit the ball well the whole day.”
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Greyserman, a rising senior out of Stanford University, finished his round bogey-free with eight birdies, including a string of three consecutive birdies on holes 14,15 and 16.
“I played the par fives really nicely and got some birdies there and then picked a few off in other places,” Greyserman continued. “Overall pretty stress free, so definitely a good day.”
Greyserman recently finished in solo fifth place at the 124th New Jersey Amateur Championship at Essex Country Club with a 2-under par score (68-74-71-71, 281). The 24-year-old now has a chance to continue that momentum at his home course, which played 6,976 yards on Monday.
“It’s definitely a lot more comfortable being out here,” Greyserman remarked. “Some of the sightlines feel more comfortable having hit them so many times. It’s good to have that feeling out here, so hopefully I just keep it up tomorrow.”
Following behind in second place was a three-way tie between Barnes Blake, Brendan Hunt and Grant Sturgeon, who each shot 4-under par 68.
Blake started out the championship strong with some clear momentum carrying into Tuesday’s round from his New Jersey Amateur Championship win on July 9.
“It definitely boosts my confidence a little bit,” Blake said after his opening round. “Just knowing that I can go out and play with the best. So, it just gave me a little bit of a confidence boost going into this and hopefully gives me a good shot at winning this one as well.”
Blake, a standout from Georgetown University, played a near perfect opening round, with five birdies and only one bogey on No. 18 to get a strong foothold in the championship. A bogey-free front nine, capped off with a birdie on the 559-yard par 5 9th hole highlighted the Baltusrol product’s scorecard.
“It was a great way to start,” Blake said. “I drove it pretty well all day. Iron play was pretty solid, but kind of the biggest thing today was getting around the greens and my putter. I was able to get up and down pretty much everywhere. Had one chip in and I made all the putts that I needed to.”
Brendan Hunt, of Somerset Hills Country Club, took an early clubhouse lead with a 4-under par 68. With eight birdies on his scorecard, Hunt bounced back from a bogey on No. 5 to close out his round with two birdies down the stretch.
“My wedges were good, but my driver was a little erratic at points,” Hunt said. “My wedges held me in there.”
“It was in great shape,” Hunt said of Hamilton Farm. “I just had some good numbers out there. So, I hit a lot of full wedges or was able to put it relatively close. I was making some good putts.”
Sturgeon, Head Golf Professional at Arcola Country Club, fired in seven birdies in his opening round, with five birdies to close out the back nine.
“I actually hit it really good for the most part,” Sturgeon said. “I struggled a little bit on the last couple getting it in, but I hit it well and made some putts and some saves. It was nothing flashy, but everything was just solid.”
An opening birdie on No. 10, the 430-yard par 4 got momentum going for the 47-year-old on Monday. From there, Sturgeon fired in birdies on holes 11,13,14 and 15 at Hamilton Farm.
“Today's the nicest I've ever seen the golf course,” Sturgeon said. “Especially since summer is a tough time for all courses. So, it's just in great shape. It's really fair. Not a ton of wind, so the golf course was just really good, and I happened to hit a few good shots.”
Following in fifth place was Will Halamandaris, a professional out of Baltusrol Golf Club. Halamandaris made an early bogey on the third hole before playing the next 14 holes blemish-free. The 2019 Patriot League Player of the Year picked up back-to-back birdies on holes 11 and 12 as well as holes 15 and 16.
The second round of the 105th Open Championship will start at 7:30 a.m. at Hamilton Farm on Wednesday
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