ZDGA Am: Change in format nets similar results in Round 1

WEST LAFAYETTE — New format, similar results at the Zanesville District Golf Association Amateur tournament.

The event, held annually since 1977, is being played on three consecutive days for the first time in its history. The first round was played on Friday at Hickory Flats, also a first.

That's where the newness stopped. The names leading the pack are mainstays — defending champion Blake Hartford, of Norwich, seven-time champion Brad Baker and perennial contender Justin Adair, of Zanesville, are at 3-under-par 69 to pace the field of 38.

Players in the early afternoon dodged scattered rain, but the heavy stuff mostly shied away. That made for good scoring conditions, as evidenced by five players shooting par or better and six others staying within six shots of the lead.

One was Adair, who posted the early wave's top round. He is chasing his first Amateur title after winning the Juniors while at Zanesville High School.

The field will be cut following the second round today at Cambridge Country Club; Sunday's final round will be held at Zanesville Country Club.

The more things change ...

It was familiar territory for Baker, who is a principal at neighboring River View and has a victory in a past Mid-Ohio Golf Association event that used to be held annually at Hickory Flats.

For Hartford, a Texas native who lives in Norwich and coaches at Muskingum, he was playing there for just the second time. Both came in the last four days.

He shot 3-under 33 on the back.

"I like it," Hartford said. "Tee to green it's in good shape and the greens were rolling pretty good, so it was a lot of fun. There are birdie chances all over the place, which makes it even more frustrating when you don't make a bunch of birdies."

Baker can relate.

His normally dead-eye putting — a big reason he has 12 ZDGA tournament wins to his credit since 1999 — had a rare off day, yet he still managed to settle safely into the red numbers.

"I hit it about as good as I could hit it tee to green," Baker said. "I made a couple of good par putts to keep my round going early, then on 9, 10 and 11, I missed three (putts) at point-blank range. ... I birdied 15 and 18 for a pretty strong finish, so I am happy with how things turned out."

Added Hartford, who played with Baker: "Brad hit the ball today as well as I think I've seen anyone hit the ball, ever. It was just lasers at every flag. ... You hit it to 10 feet so much, you're bound to miss a couple, right? It seemed like he wasn't going to."

No rest for the wicked

It was his third round of the week, having already tied for sixth in the two-day Ohio Senior Amateur at Fremont Country Club on Wednesday and Thursday.

Chances are almost assured he will have five competitive rounds in by Monday, but the 1985 River View grad is confident he's got enough magic in reserve to stay in the hunt.

He and Hartford approved of the one-week format. The event spanned two weekends in past years.

"If you're in a rhythm you can keep it," Baker said. "Waiting a week can sometimes hinder you if you're playing well."

Back nine magic

Hartford battled an errant driver on the front nine before picking up steam at the turn. Nonetheless, a good round at Cambridge figures to set him up well for Sunday at Zanesville Country Club, where he is a member.

"Watching the guys and ladies play (at Muskingum) have made me want to play more competitive golf," said Hartford, a data analyst by trade who played at Texas A&M-Commerce. "I'm just sitting there itching to get out there every time they are out there playing, so it's nice to actually come out and compete now. (My game) is kind of up and down every day. Today I didn't hit it great, but I got up and down from everywhere, so it kind of kept me in it."

A finely carved punch cut around a tree on the 18th hole, which left himself a pitch shot, was among his savage recoveries. It came after a bad break off the tee when he laid up with a 2-iron in an effort to avoid the looming brook.

"It was actually sitting pretty good," Hartford said. "I just tried to hold it a ton, just really get it cutting and it did."

They've got company

The leaders have more than a few bloodhounds trying to to chase them down.

Tri-Valley grad Austin Beyers and River View middle schooler Gavin Gress are at 70; Cambridge's Jessi Roe is at 71 and John Glenn high schooler Noah Dever and Cambridge grad Ian Smith, now at Mount Union, and West Liberty (West Virginia) and John Glenn product Derek Graham checked in at 72.

Three are five shots back at 74: Crooksville High and Malone product Brock White, Mike Shook and Ohio Valley product Wes Jenkins.

Beyers, who now lives in Dayton, and Gress, already a ZDGA veteran despite his youth, are no strangers to chasing down the leaders. Both are past contenders.

Gress finished sixth as a 13-year-old in 2023 when he shot an opening-round 72 at Cambridge. He shot a final-round 78 in windy conditions at ZCC.

Friday's highlight was an eagle on the par-5 16th to get into the red, then caught a break on the final hole when his putt from off the green hit the flagstick. It prevented the ball from rolling off the green.

He hopes the positive momentum continues.

"I'm back to hitting it really straight," Gress said. "I think I am getting better and better every day."

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

LEADERBOARD

Justin Adair 35-34 – 69

Brad Baker 34-35 – 69

Blake Hartford 36-33 – 69

Austin Beyers 38-32 – 70

Gavin Gress 35-35 – 70

Jessi Rose 34-37 – 71

Noah Dever 38-34 – 72

Ian Smith 37-35 – 72

Derek Graham 35-37 – 72

Brock White 35-39 – 74

Mike Shook 38-36 – 74

Wes Jenkins 39-35 – 74

Zach Forker 39-41 – 75

Jake Moore 40-35 – 75

Nick Luniewski 38-37 – 75

Damon Moore 37-39 – 76

Jack Porter 40-37 – 77

Jed Burga 40-37 – 77

Rob Englert 43-34 – 77

Colton Gress 39-40 – 79

Austin Gunn 41-38 – 79

Cameron Bartek 39-41 – 80

Matt Reed 40-40 – 80

Hoyt Dodson 36-45 – 81

Austin Campbell 44-37 – 81

Brad Byers 45-37 – 82

Liam Blake 45-38 – 83

Brian Pierce 42-41 – 83

Owen Lutz 41-43 – 84

Preston Yeater 42-42 – 84

Rich Bubenchik 41-44 – 85

Connor Larimer 43-43 – 86

Bo White 43-43 – 86

Jeremy Walpole 46-41 – 87

Cade Pickrell 42-46 – 88

Christian Taylor 45-43 – 88

Parker Erichsen 47-49 – 96

Matt Johnson 51-54 – 105

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: ZDGA Amateur: Change in format nets similar results in Round 1