Palmer Leads North Senior Amateur by One
Lewisville, TX – Chuck Palmer leads the North Senior Amateur by two at The Lakes at Castle Hills. Joel Eastman holds a one-shot advantage in the Super-Senior Flight.
Chuck Palmer from Dallas carded a 3-under-par 69 to jump out to be the first round leader of the North Senior Amateur. Palmer started on the back nine of The Lakes at Castle Hills’ par-72 layout with a bogey-free nine holes. Those holes included birdies on the 13th and 18th, both par-5s, as well as the 397-yard par-4, 14th. Palmer added one more birdie on the second hole before finally surrendering one back to the course on the 401-yard, par-4, sixth.
Trailing Palmer by two are the 2016 Texas Senior Player of the Year, Lewis Stephenson and the 2017 North Senior Amateur Champion, Wayne Wright.
Mansfield’s Stephenson went birdie-birdie to begin his round. He recorded all pars for the rest of the day except for the difficult 201-yard, par-3, 13th. The two birdie, one bogey performance totaled to a 1-under-par, 71.
For Wright, his scorecard featured a few more up and downs. The Aledo native’s round began with birdies on the first and fourth holes. He finished the outward nine though with back-to-back bogeys on holes eight and nine. His back nine continued so with a bogey-birdie-bogey start before he poured in two more birdies on the 14th and 15th holes.
Palmer and Wright are both looking to add their name to list of previous winners for the second time in the 10th playing of the North Senior Amateur. Palmer won in 2014 and Wright in 2017. For Stephenson though, it would be his first North Senior Title despite claiming the Texas Senior Amateur in 2017 along with Senior Player of the year.
In the Super-Senior Flight, Joel Eastman of Dallas and Bill Holstead of Wichita Falls co-lead after rounds of two-over-par, 74.
Eastman made four bogeys in his round but also capitalized on the par-3s with birdies on the seventh and 16th.
Holstead made two birdies and a bogey on the outward nine turning at 1-under-par before the course bit back and Holstead surrendered four back before adding another birdie.
Each player is looking for their first ever title in their flight of the North Senior Amateur. 2017’s winner Bryan Winnett will look to bounce back after a first round, 8-over-par 80.
The Lakes at Castle Hills opened its doors in 1999 with a Jay Morrish & Associates design that requires as much precision as it does power. The course feature MiniVerde greens, premium Arkansas white crushed quartz bunker sand and 419 Bermuda grass fairways and rough.
Chuck Palmer will try to close out the North Senior Amateur with a 10:06 am tee time. Players will once again be going off the first and 10th tees starting at 8:00am. For more from the North Senior Amateur, please click here.