Will Hartman, 16, of Charlotte, N.C., shot a bogey-free 66 Monday and was one of five players at the top of the leader board on the first day of stroke play in the 75th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Daniel Island Club.
Hartman, Tommy Morrison, 18, of Dallas, Texas, and Carson Kim, 18, of Yorba Linda, Calif., were 5-under on the par-71 Beresford Creek Course. Joshua Bai, 17, of New Zealand and South Carolina native Andrew Gregory shot their 6-under-par scores on the par-72 Ralston Creek Course.
“Ball-striking carried me today,” said Hartman, who is competing in his first USGA championship. “I only missed one green. It was a lot of smart golf to the middle of the green and then make your fair share of 8-10 footers and it ended up adding itself up at the end.”
Bai, who is playing in his second U.S. Junior Amateur, canned nine birdies, including his last two holes, against three bogeys. Gregory, of Spartanburg, who made the field as a first alternate from qualifying, hit his 90-yard approach to within 4 feet on the par-5 18th to put an exclamation point on his round.
“Just kind of a smooth round,” said Gregory, who is competing in his third consecutive Junior Amateur. “I had a lot of tap-ins and didn’t really make any long birdie putts. The other kid [Max Herendeen] in my group we were going back and forth so he kept me pushing the whole way.”
Morrison birdied his last three holes on Beresford Creek in the afternoon. He got up-and-down from greenside on the par-5 eighth and hit his tee shot on the par-3 ninth, his last hole, to within 12 feet behind the flagstick.
“I was pretty patient the whole day and was waiting for something to happen,” said Morrison, who played as a freshman this past spring at the University of Texas. “Thankfully it paid off. The last three holes were gettable. I am glad I took advantage of it and put myself in a better spot for tomorrow.”
Kim strung together four birdies and an eagle in a five-hole stretch en route to a 5-under round in the morning on Beresford Creek. The highlight was when he holed a 60-degree wedge from 40 yards with his third shot on the par-5 10th.
“I was a little short left and I thought it was going to be a pretty tough spot,” said Kim, who is competing in his first U.S. Junior Amateur and has club member Ryan Propes as a caddie. “I got it up and luckily it hit the pin and went right in.”
Kim, who recently made his college commitment to Georgia Tech, jump-started his round with that same wedge when he hit it to 2 feet on No. 7 before making birdie on the par-5 eighth after his wayward tee shot found the trees to the right. He made another birdie by striking his approach to within 6 feet on No. 11.
“This is probably one of the best rounds I have played, especially in a tournament,” said Kim, who won all three of his matches for the U.S. team in the 2022 Presidents Cup. “This course is certainly not easy. The rough is really punishing and the greens are firm. I really felt like my game was solid today.”
A 6-foot par putt on Beresford’s 18th hole horseshoed out, preventing Ethan Fang from posting a bogey-free opening round. The 18-year-old from Plano, Texas, still carded a 4-under 67 with five birdies.
Colin Salema, 17, of Matthews, N.C., Zihang Qiu, 16, of the People’s Republic of China, and Max Herendeen, of Bellevue, Wash., all shot 4-under 68 at Ralston Creek.
Billy Davis, 17, of Spring Valley, Calif., is in a group of six players at 3-under 69. Davis, who made four birdies with one bogey, is the twin brother of Anna Davis, who has competed in two U.S. Women’s Opens (2022, 2023).
