The only regret the leaders in the first round of the Jacksonville Area Golf Association Amateur Championship on Thursday might have had was too wide a disparity between their scores and the air temperature.
Broiling under a fierce sun rarely blocked out by cloud cover, they nevertheless attacked the San Jose Country Club for seven scores in the 60s and 16 at par or better, led by 6-under 66s by University of North Florida assistant golf coach Jeff Dennis and Wolfson graduate Will Davis, who is a rising junior at Davidson.
“It was hot, but the course was in great shape and there was hardly any wind out there,” said Davis, who grew up playing at San Jose. “If there’s no wind, you need to keep making birdies if you want to be around on Saturday.”
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Dennis’s round was highlighted by a birdie at No. 6 — after his tee shot rolled into the water, 260 yards from the hole. He hit a 3-wood from the rough onto the green and then made a 45-foot birdie putt.
Davis played bogey-free golf and eagled No. 17 on a 20-foot putt, after muscling a 3-wood onto the green from 245 yards out. He also dropped a 45-foot putt for birdie at No. 5.
Jacksonville Amateur second-round groups, tee times
Seeing stars in the heat
Defending champion Jason Duff, a Menendez graduate, holed out from 25 yards away for eagle at the par-5 sixth hole to spark a 5-under 67, matched by his future UNF teammate and NCAA Division II champion Andrew Riley, a Creekside product, and Sam Geise, who might be everybody’s best friend by the end of the tournament on Saturday — he’s a sales representative for the Tampa-based company Crete Mechanical, specializing in air conditioners.
Geise said he emptied 12 bottles of water during his round and “was seeing stars in my eyes” when he stood over birdie putt attempts of 6 feet at No. 8 and 35 at No. 9, his two closing holes.
“I had to shake my head and force myself to breathe,” said the 29-year-old native of Dayton, Ohio.
They both went in, the latter his third birdie putt of the day 20 feet or longer.
Riley and Geise posted their scores playing in the final groups on opposite nines. When they finished, the temperature was 96 degrees.
Two players shot 68, Bartram Trail and University of Florida graduate Toby Ragland and Suttanit Tangyihgyong of Jacksonville.
Watch out for Duff
Counting his 15-under 201 score to win at Deerwood last year, Duff is 20-under for his last four Jacksonville Amateur rounds.
He said he’ll need more birdies to keep pace.
“If the conditions remain the same, no wind and the course playing a little soft, you have to keep flooring it to have a chance on Saturday,” he said.
Duff also had a revelation: prior to the first round he had played on nine holes twice at San Jose — once as a junior (he shot 44 to get a third-place trophy) and during a practice round on Wednesday.
“I like it a lot … reminds me of Deerwood,” Duff said.
Dennis said his game usually peaks just after the college season, and he credits UNF players for their help in the process.
When we get to the last few weeks of the season, I’ll play a lot of practice rounds with those guys,” said Dennis, a former Osprey standout himself. “I think playing with that kind of competition rubs off.”
Dennis said the rest of the leaders need to take a hint from Duff’s first round.
“Jason’s good golf is very, very good,” Dennis said. “Just a little consistency from him is what we need but when he’s on, he can make as many birdies as anyone.”
After Friday’s second round, the field will be cut to the low 40, plus ties, for Saturday’s final round.
Jacksonville Area Golf Association
62nd annual Jacksonville Amateur
At San Jose Country Club (par-72, 7,027 yards)
Will Davis 33-33–66
Jeff Dennis 33-33–66
Jason Duff 34-33–67
Sam Geise 33-34–67
Andrew Riley 33-34–67
Toby Ragland 32-36–68
Suttanit Tangyihgyong 33-35–68
Tyler Brown 35-35–70
Max Barile 38-33–71
Evan Raynor 34-37–71
David Palm 35-36–71
John Ambrose 37-35–72
Jeff Golden 38-34–72
Panormitis Karatzas 38-34–72
Thomas Salatino 37-35–72
Andrew Morgan 36-36–72
Tyler Gulliksen 37-36–73
Thomas Cavanagh 38-35–73
Pablo Mena 36-37–73
Duke Butler IV 36-37–73
James Tureskis 38-35–73
Adam Vermut 38-35–73
Raines Holmes 37-36–73
Graham Nichols 38-35–73
Max McKay 36-37–73
Scott Thomas 39-35–74
Sam Davis 36-38–74
Sam Ohno 36-38–74
Zach Lee 39-35–74
Adam Waller 38-37–75
Michael Smith 38-37–75
Nate Mosby 38-37–75
Mark Spencer 38-37–75
Jake Fournier 37-38–75
Mike Holland 40-35–75
Mitch Howard 40-35–75
Danny Erickson 38-37–75
Clay Tucker 36-39–75
Alex Taylor 36-39–75
Harrison Harper 36-39–75
Kevin Sullivan 39-36–75
Jackson Klauk 35-40–75
Johnny Tucker 36-39–75
Michael Del Rocco 40-36–76
Chad Knickerbocker 38-38–76
Luke Cusick 38-38–76
Matt Kleinrock 38-38–76
Kevin McDonald 35-41–76
Jackson Sullivan 40-36–76
William Shrewsbury 41-35–76
John Makarauskas 39-38–77
Alex Dienes 40-37–77
Brock Buhnerkemper 37-40–77
Clark Tiller 39-39–77
Peter Catanzaro 40-37–77
Brent Edwards 38-39–77
Patrick Hamlin 40-38–78
Andrew Stewart 43-35–78
Dan Huffingham 36-42–78
Mitchell Nolan 41-37–78
Chuck Kirk 40-38–78
Rocky Fraleigh 38-40–78
Harrell Robinson Jr. 37-41–78
Stewart Slayden 38-40–78
Aaron DeWitt 41-37–78
David Locht 39-40–79
Alexander Waller 40-39–79
Tucker Bagnardi 39-41–80
John Milton 40-40–80
Matthew Myers 38-42–80
John Lobb 39-41–80
Patten Williams 39-42–81
Jackson March 36-45–81
Drew DeBrito 41-40–81
Drew Miller 46-36–82
Teddy Sotsky 39-41–82
Easton Oliva 30-43–83
Richard Owen 42-41–83
Aaron Badz 46-40–86
Ryan Wharton 43-44–87
Matt Miller 46-42–88
Hunter Brown 41-48–89
Brian Blackburn 44-45–89
Stewart Knight 45-47–92
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jeff Dennis, Will Davis share first-round lead in Jacksonville Amateur