KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 2015 KC Amateur Championship began play at Shoal Creek Golf Club on Friday, July 17. The Championship is a three-day, 54-hole tournament with a cut after 36-holes, consisting of four divisions.
Players may compete in four separate flights of the Kansas City Amateur: the Open flight, Players flight, Senior flight and Legends flight. Golfers must have an index of 3.4 or less to participate in the Open flight. A handicap index of at least 1.0 but not more than 18.2 is required for the Players flight. The Senior flight requires an index of 18.2 or less and at least 50 years of age by the first day of the championship. Finally, a player must be at least 60 years of age by the first day of the championship for the Legends flight. All the golfers are competing in gross scoring.
The summer weather finally hit Kansas City as the 121-golfers arrived throughout the day to compete in their designated divisions, battling the temperatures that rose near 100 degrees. The heat did not affect Steve Groom and Mark Worthey in the Seniors division, consisting of 17-golfers, as they tied for the lowest score of any division posting an impressive 68 (-3) on the day.
The Legends division consisted of 11-golfers as Robert Nelson II and Andy Smith are tied for first, both firing 71 (E). One-stroke behind the leaders in the Legends Flight is Jim Lodes with a 72 (+1).
The leader of the Players division is Matt Foster as he posted a 79 (+8). Two-strokes behind Foster is a two-way tie for second between Jack Blair and Pat Hansen, as they both fired 81 (+10).
Matching the low score of the day, 68 (-3), with Groom and Worthey is Preston Fleenor leading the Open division. Fleenor fired six birdies on the day to lead the field. Trailing Fleenor by one-stroke is a three-way tie for second between Jeff Mason, Mark Terranova and Jon Platz at 69 (-2).
The Kansas City Amateur Championship will continue play tomorrow morning at 7:30.