Metropolis, Ironton golfers lead boys

If Wednesday was moving day at the AJGA's Dalhousie Junior Championship, most of the field was going in the wrong direction.

Even Dustin Korte and Marshall Talkington, who both scored in the 60s during Tuesday's opening round, were over par in the second round.

Korte managed to hold on to a share of first place with a 1-over-par 73 to follow his record round of 64, but it could have been better.

And Talkington had to work for a 7-over 79 to drop him back into a tie for eighth place with a two-day total of 2-over 146.

The 54-hole tournament concludes today at Dalhousie Golf Club with the first pairings teeing off at 7 a.m. The final group, with Korte and Jordan McLaurin at 7 under and Landon Lyons five strokes back at 2 under, will tee it up at 8:39 a.m.

After the morning wave of golfers Wednesday, Korte didn't look like he was going to have much company at the top. Only Paul McClure of Mobile, Ala., broke 70 and his 69 left him at 153, 16 strokes behind Korte.

Korte, a Metropolis, Ill., resident playing in his second AJGA event, was poised to give himself more breathing room by playing the first 16 holes in 2 under despite an uneven performance.

"I made a lot of birdies and bogeys today," he said. "It was just birdie-bogey every other hole basically."

But he couldn't stay under par. He drove long and left on the par-3 eighth hole and three-putted for a double bogey and finished his day on No. 9 with a three-putt bogey.

"My putter, on those last couple of holes," Korte lamented. "I was just blowing it by the holes and I had a tough putt coming back. I had 10-footers coming back. I just shouldn't do that. I was getting greedy."

Korte had reason to be confident with his putter after what ended up as 22 putts (including one three-putt) to go with two chip-ins Tuesday during his opening 64, which was the best competitive round shot at the Dalhousie since the course opened in 2002.

He said he had put that round out of his mind.

"I just tried to act like I shot 74 or something and not even think about it," Korte said. "I wasn't thinking about it the whole round."

But tournament officials, after 10 under-par and five even-par rounds Tuesday, put some teeth in the course with 30 extra yards on the par-4 third hole and nearly 20 more yards by using the back tees on No. 3. That boosted the official length to 6,992. Add in the 70 yards of length for No. 18 with the pin placement moving from near the front of the 100-yard green to the back, some wind and firm greens, and it was a tougher day to break par.

"The conditions were tougher," said Steven Sorenson, who played with Korte both days. "It was windier in the morning today than it was in the afternoon yesterday."

McClure's under-par round in the morning was an accomplishment matched just four times in the afternoon — by McLaurin (67), Lyons (69), Paul McConnell (70) and Joe Doramus (68).

Wednesday produced half as many under-par rounds as Tuesday and no even-par rounds as the stroke average jumped from 78.09 to 79.94.

Talkington, the Jackson, Tenn., resident who posted a 67 on Tuesday, also was uneven Wednesday, but he had fewer bright spots in his round than Korte. Talkington eagled the par-5 15th to undue some damage of a 5-over start in his first five holes. But he bogeyed Nos. 17 and 18 before making the turn and had three bogeys and one birdie on his final nine holes.

"I had a lot of confidence at the start, but I think I tried too hard to make birdies and tried to push it," Talkington said. "I struggled at the start and lost confidence and it was hard to get that back."

Talkington will tee off today in the second-to-last group.

Lyons, of Baton Rouge, La., joined the final group with a round that included an eagle on No. 15.

Immediately behind Korte, McLaurin and Lyons will be McConnell, who is at even-par 144; and Blake Biddle and Will Handley, both of whom are 1 over after shooting 2-over 74s on Wednesday.

Talkington will be playing with Kyle Wilshire, also 1 over after a 75 on Wednesday; and Doramus, who moved to 2 over by closing with a 4-under 32 on the front nine Wednesday.

"I will try to make up a lot of ground," Talkington said. "It'd be nice to shoot another 67, but we'll see what happens."