South Carolina 36-Hole Clubhouse Leader Under Challenging Conditions

By David Shefter, USGA

St. Albans, Mo. – As the rain kept falling, the scores started soaring.

A day after the Lewis and Clark Course at the Country Club of St. Albans yielded a 64, two 65s and a 66, a steady stream of showers Thursday morning made scoring much more challenging at the 2009 USGA Men’s State Team Championship.

The 7,150-yard, par-71 layout played much longer than the number and tested the patience of those teams with early starting times.

First-round leader Kansas, which received a championship-record tying 64 from 33-year-old Jon Troutman of Spring Hill, plummeted from nine under to one over with a 10-over 152 total in the 3-count-2 format. Troutman went 15 strokes higher in carding a non-scoring 79. Teammates Dodge Kemmer, 22, of Wichita and 50-year-old Bryan Norton of Mission Hills posted 75 and 77, respectively.

“It’s hard,” said Norton of the conditions. “[The rain] is very distracting. I know it was a battle this morning. We played with an umbrella for 15 holes. Just a tough day.”

Tim Jackson's second-round 72 has Tennessee in contention for a second USGA Men's State Team Championship. (John Mummert/USGA)

But South Carolina, which entered the second round in a tie for second just two strokes behind, did manage quite well, getting an even-par 71 from 23-year-old Mark Anderson of Beaufort and a 76 by 50-year-old Steve Liebler of Irmo.

South Carolina’s 2-under 282 was good for the early 36-hole clubhouse lead by two shots over 2003 champion Tennessee and three strokes over Kansas and Massachusetts.

Georgia, which shot 4-under 138 on Wednesday, had an afternoon starting time as did Nevada, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Rhode Island, all of whom carded 1-under 141 in the first round.

Anderson’s 6-under 136 total leads the race for individual medalist honors by three shots over 50-year-old Tim Jackson of Germantown, Tenn.

Michael Harrington, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colo., had the low round of the morning wave with a 2-under 69, while Massachusetts’ Frank Vana Jr. of North Andover, one of two golfers to compete in all eight USGA Men’s State Team Championships, registered a 1-under 70 that helped put his team within three strokes of the lead. Those were the only two sub-par rounds, although anything around par was good .

“If you would have told me before I teed off this morning that I would shoot 71 today, I would have taken it,” said Anderson, a 2008 graduate of the University of South Carolina who remained an amateur this past year for a chance to make the 2009 USA Walker Cup team. “But I’m also a little disappointed. I hit a couple of loose shots and three-putted a couple of times. I did hit a poor tee shot on No. 2 and made double. Other than that, I am happy with the way I played.

“My goal in these conditions is to stay as patient as possible and not get ahead of myself. Taking it just one shot at a time is even more important because you can lose shots in a hurry like I did today. I dropped three shots in three holes.”

Nevertheless, Anderson registered five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. He rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt at the 18th to turn at one under. After the double at No. 2 and a bogey at the par-3 third, Anderson rebounded with birdies on six and eight.

Liebler, like Anderson a USC graduate (1981), didn’t make any birdies, but held his game together well enough for a 76. Jarrett Grimes, a 2006 USC graduate, had a non-scoring 87.

“I think we’re in great position,” said Anderson. “We’re all ready. We’re all excited. Jarrett hasn’t counted a score yet, but I have a feeling he’s going to play really well tomorrow.”

Jackson, like Anderson, has been the steadying force for Tennessee. A two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and the low amateur at this year’s U.S. Senior Open, Jackson fought through the difficult conditions to keep his squad in contention for a second Men’s State Team title.

Rob Garland, 34, of Nashville added a 77, while Todd Burgan, 40, of Knoxville had a non-scoring 78.

“It played hard for me,” said Jackson, who also became the oldest stroke-play medalist in U.S. Amateur history last month at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. “I’m hitting 4-irons, 5-irons and hybrids into these par-4s. It wasn’t really that much fun. That’s going to be fun up there [in the clubhouse] with a little lunch.”

By the time the morning wave finished, the rain was beginning to subside, leaving speculation that good scores might be attainable.

“What you don’t know is if the weather is going to improve dramatically and have a bunch of good scores,” said Norton, whose Kansas team took advantage of ideal conditions on Wednesday afternoon.

Added Jackson: “If it doesn’t rain and [the wind] stays still, the scores may even out the way the waves were yesterday. You’re probably going to have a lot of teams bunched around even par.”

Which could make for quite a shootout for Friday’s final round, weather permitting.

David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.