Every year, the Quarter Century Partnership gives competitors a chance to test their skills on the Odessa Country Club’s Old and Links Course.
Half of the tournament’s field started this year’s edition on the Old Course and moved to the Links to start the second round Friday.
Chris Beaty and Travis Franco had a strong showing, carding a 9-under-par 63 to jump into the first flight’s top spot on the second day.
Franco said he had to adjust his game before the start of the round, focusing on patience to build off the 4-under 68 he and Beaty shot in the opening round.
“Yesterday, we felt like we tried to rush everything and we tried to make a lot of birdies which we should have just kept our head low and just trusted our game,” Franco said. “Out here it was the same mentality as yesterday, but not as aggressive and we were patient.”
He noted that some of the differences between the country club’s courses include the tree line on the Old Course.
If a golfer puts the ball in play and avoids sending it left or right, he should be okay in that setting.
Because the Links are so open, a golfer can still achieve success whether they send it to the middle, left or right according to Franco.
The team of Beaty and Franco had little to no trouble on the open layout, recording birdies on three of the first four holes.
They kept it up with an eagle on the seventh hole and added five more birdies before closing out the round.
Beaty and Franco currently hold a one-shot lead over the team of Brett Lossin and Danny Moralez (63-69—132) and are ahead by three shots over the duo of Austin Clift and Ryan Havens (68-66—134).
Franco has experience playing on both the Old and Links Courses, as he has been a member of the country club for seven years and he is currently in his third Quarter Century Partnership.
Mike Maes is another veteran of the competition, participating since 2006 and winning the championship flight in 2010.
He described the Old Course as a setting that leans more toward strategic placement, while the Links Course requires golfers to “grip it and rip it.”
“If the rough’s not up then you can kind of just whale on it and if the rough’s up, you’ve got to be a little more laid back on it,” Maes said. “But it’s a lot longer course.”
Maes and his partner Omar Sanchez went into the second round tied for second in the championship flight after shooting a 5-under 67 Thursday.
The first time Maes and Sanchez teamed up was in 2007, building up strong chemistry since that appearance.
Maes said he and Sanchez ham and egg well, stressing the importance of having a solid foundation as a team.
“Partnership is so much more difficult than individual because you don’t want to let your partner down,” Maes said.
Before the start of their second round, Maes added that he wanted to minimize the number of lip outs he recorded on the first day.
Between the Odessa Country Club’s two courses, Franco and Maes said they preferred to play on the Old Course.
Maes likes that he could focus on placing the ball more, while Franco added that putting the ball in play on that course results in more positives for a golfer.
“I enjoy the Old Course, just because [if] you put it in play, you’re going to get rewarded,” Franco said. “Versus out there if you hit a big cut, a big draw you’re in play but if you need to go finesse something it’s like ‘Okay, am I going to hit a draw, am I going to hit a cut or is it going to go straight?’
“Here you put it in play, you’re good.”
Both golfers will close out the 59th Quarter Century Partnership on the Old Course in the final round Saturday.
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