Sports

Broadaway, Skinner struggle on Day 1 of Nationwide event

• River Pointe Golf Club pro Sonny Skinner finishes the first round of the South Georgia Classic at even par while Albany native Josh Broadaway finishes at 4-over.

Scott Chancey

VALDOSTA — The conclusion of Thursday’s first round of the South Georgia Classic meant different things to River Pointe golf pro Sonny Skinner and Albany native Josh Broadaway.

It was a source of cautious optimism for Skinner after he scored an even-par 72 in the Nationwide Tour event. For Broadaway, it was a painful reflection of what could have been after carding a 76.

“I don’t know how impressive it was, but I hit ball around the course with some control and I felt pretty good about myself,” said Skinner, a long-time pro player who won twice back when this was known as the Nike Tour. He is tied for 42nd, while South African Garth Mulroy leads the Classic after a 67 Broadaway, meanwhile, bogeyed two of his first three holes and then triple-bogeyed the par-5 fourth. He had one more bogey at the sixth before making the turn and seemed to recover after birdieing the 11th and 14^th holes. After barely missing a long putt for par at 18, he had to settle with 4 over.

After making the past two cuts, Broadaway’s chances of doing it at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club aren’t certain. He’s tied for 125th.

“I struggled, played bad,” said Broadaway, who earned his first pro win a few years back on the Hooters Tour against future Masters champion Zach Johnson. “A big number on 4 put me behind the eight ball. And I just didn’t have game at all. I made some birdies on the back nine and kind of got it saved a little and then just kind of gave it all away at 18 with a dumb bogey.”

There are four are tied at second behind Mulroy at 68: Hunter Haas, Ben Bates, Bryan DeCorso and Chris Nallen.

Mulroy, whose best finish this year was a tie for 11th March 30 in Louisiana, went from rotating between a belly and standard putter, to a long putter in one of this week’s pro-ams — which proved huge. The results were four birdies during the first eight holes.

“I hadn’t been playing very well, hadn’t been hitting solid at all,” Mulroy said. “At the pro-am, I felt more comfortable. I could stand taller and look down the line better.”

Haas (no relation to Champions Tour player Jay Haas and PGA Tour player Bill Haas) started on the back nine and had two birdies during the first four holes. He closed out his round with birdies at Nos. 1, 5 and 7.

“I started hitting good,” Haas said. “I woke up (Thursday morning) and started hitting good, I guess. I hadn’t been doing it in previous weeks. But I made my fair share of putts (Thursday).”

Skinner birdied two of the course’s two par-5 holes, sinking a 10-footer at No. 2 and a three-footer on the 11th. While attempting for par, however, he failed to capitalize on a four-footer on the 12th hole and a seven-footer at No. 18.

“I didn’t read the greens good enough,” said Skinner, who attempted a total of 30 putts. “I didn’t get good speed, but had a lot of two-putts.

Even par? I can’t complain. The golf course is tough for me, being really long. It’s in great shape and this is beautiful weather.”

The dry conditions did not hurt, either on what is the longest course played in either the PGA, Champions or Nationwide circuits, enabling the balls to roll farther for shorter hitters like Skinner.

“Dry conditions help everyone on this course,” Skinner said. “If it was a short course, we’d all roll into trouble. You need dry conditions to play this course.”

Broadaway, during his round, three-putted from 30 feet on the first hole and rebounded with a birdie at No. 2. After bogeying at No. 3, however, he played himself into deeper trouble at No. 4 when his first shot veered to the right of the fairway and landed in pine straw.

“I really didn’t have a shot,” Broadaway said. “The only shot I had was to chip it out, and when I did, stuff grabbed my club and I actually plugged it about 15 yards in front of me in the straw and then had nothing from there.”

He took a drop and then found himself 4-over by the fifth hole.

“You’ve just got to keep playing, it’s just golf,” Broadaway said. “You’re going to have bad holes. You’ve just got to regroup and push forward. You’ve got to put that stuff behind you.”

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