A blistering day on the Old Course paved the way for a relatively high-scoring opening round of the West Texas Amateur.
Casey Carnes of Schertz leads the championship through one round at the Odessa Country Club after a 4-under-par 68.
Carnes’ round included five birdies and one bogey, that coming on the challenging 18th to close out the round.
He leads by one over Christopher Wheeler of Addison and Nolan Otto of Big Spring, who both shot 69 to open the championship.
Three players sit in a pack at one under, including the University of Houston’s Logan Vargas.
Only six out of 84 players are under-par after the opening round in the championship division, with 2020 champion J.T. Pittman of Monahans still on the course at press time.
In the Senior Division, featuring players 55 and older, Houston’s Mike Booker and Kelly Eng of Austin are tied for the lead at 1-under-par 71
Though they finished with the same score, their rounds couldn’t have been more different.
Booker fired of a front-nine 33, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 sixth and a birdie on the opening hole, along with two bogeys.
Eng battled back from a double bogey at the Par 5 No. 13 with two birdies in the last four holes to post 71.
Odessa’s Koy Stribling and Terrence Ray Miskell of New Braunfels both sit one back after opening rounds of 72.
In the Super Senior Division, for players 65 and older, Michael Puls of Irving posted a solid 3-under-par 69 to lead the division by four shots.
Puls’ round was highlighted by six birdies, including three in a row on the back nine.
Marshall Morgan of Fort Worth and Doug Hopton-Jones of Mansfield are tied for second after the opening round, firing rounds of 73 to begin the week.
The second round is scheduled to tee off at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, with the championship flight contenders off the tee first.
Follow Nicholas Pursley on Twitter @nicholaspursley.
