Leaders: Smith made seven birdies and two eagles in route to his a 7-under 65 on Friday. Smith started with three straight bogies before rattling off five birdies in a row followed by eagles on holes 10 and 12. After dropping a shot on 14, he showed his toughness by gaining two more birdies to finish the day. In the Senior Division, Trevor Hyde leads at 6-under. Hyde played steady all day making six birdies and no bogeys. Hyde’s bogey-free round gives him a four-stroke lead after Friday’s first round. In the Super Senior Division Mansfield’s Hopton-Jones posted 2-under 70 on Friday and leads by one stroke. Hopton-Jones tallied four birdies on the day, including three in a 4-hole stretch.

In Contention: Trailing Smith in the Championship Division are Carson Gallaher of New Braunfels, and Preston Defriend of Lubbock. Gallaher got off to a steady start on the front nine before firing off four birdies on the back to end his day. Defriend started off fast with five birdies in his first nine holes and finished with a steady even par 36 on the back. Leyton Hiebert and Luke Hagen are tied for fourth at 4-under chasing the leaders. In the Senior Division, John Pierce of San Antonio and Terrence Miskell of New Braunfels are tied for second at 2-under, while Southlake’s Mike Lohner and Neal Barfield of Dallas are tied for fourth at 1-under. In the Super Senior Division, Ed Ball of Wichita Falls and Bobby Haney of New Braunfels are tied for second at 1-under, while Michael Jones, and Tom Takes are tied for third.

Golf Course: Located on 300 rolling acres along the Concho River in San Angelo, Quicksand is 7,171 yards of challenging golf featuring several bunkers, bodies of water and generous rolling fairways that combine to make this a unique experience. This is the first time the West Texas Amateur is being played at Quicksand Golf Course

Weather: Temperatures started in the low 70’s in the morning and crept up to the high 90’s in the afternoon. There was a calm West Texas breeze around nine miles per hour all day. Sunny skies lasted throughout the day and into the early evening as the final groups rolled in.

Tournament History: The West Texas Amateur is a 144-player tournament across three divisions. This Regional Event is open to all residents of Texas and has boasted some amazing past champions such as Charles Coody, Billy Maxwell, Bob Estes and Alex Moon. This year’s event saw more than 300 signups.

TGA Regional Series: The TGA Regional Series is made up of four events for each region of North and South Texas. There is a Regional Four-Ball, Mid-Amateur, Senior Amateur and Amateur for both the North and South. The West Texas Amateur also serves as an event in the Regional Series and is open to any players in the state of Texas that meet eligibility.

What’s Next: The second round of the West Texas Amateur is set to begin at 7:30 am on Saturday, July 20. The Senior and Super Senior Divisions will go off in the morning wave, while the Championships Division switch to the afternoon wave. Following the second round, each division will be cut in half before Sunday’s Final Round.

For more information on the West Texas Amateur, click here.