IJGA's Go only golfer under par after Day 1 of Sea Pines Jr. Heritage
For the better part of three hours, the procession of long, wind-battered faces cast serious doubt over whether anyone might break par in Saturday's opening round of the Sea Pines Junior Heritage.
When someone finally did, he did it with some zing.
Bluffton's Shiso Go, one of a handful of IJGA students in the field, carded four birdies on the way to a 3-under-par 69 at Heron Point, surprised to find himself with a three-shot cushion as the tournament shifts to Harbour Town for its final day.
"There was no rain in the morning, so I thought some players might shoot a couple under (par)," said the Japanese teen. "I was definitely surprised."
J.J. Gresco of Scottsdale, Ariz., was the only player to match par, nudging to the front of a logjam that found 11 players bunched within two shots of each other. That cluster included Bluffton's Alec Weary (73) and Arjun Puri (74), along with Hilton Head Island's Andrew Orischak (74).
Charlotte's Madison Moosa grabbed the girls' lead right from the start, posting a 73 and watching no one come within three shots.
She actually led by five most of the day until Hilton Head Island's Hanna Kiefer and Lexington's Gracyn Burgess carded 76s near the end.
"I hit every fairway, so that definitely helped a lot," said Moosa, who chipped in for her only birdie but also had just two bogeys on her scorecard.
"I've been building a lot of confidence the last couple of months in my game, and today it just kind of all came together."
Golfers dealt with blustery winds and temperatures that barely crossed 50 degrees all day, with rain showers adding to the equation for the latter half of the 84-player field. Saturday's scoring averages were 77.69 for the boys and an astounding 84.44 for the girls.
Nearly one-third of the boys and two-thirds of the girls could not break 80 on the Pete Dye layout.
"The elements were tough with all the wind and water out there," Burgess said. "This course is a tough course and you've got to be able to hit it straight."
A quality short game certainly helps as well. Despite struggling with his iron play, Go managed to go bogey-free for his final 16 holes after an early stumble.
He carded two birdies on each side, capped by a 30-foot putt at the par-4 14th.
Go already has won recently at Harbour Town, capturing the IJGA Invitational in a seven-shot romp in mid-December.
The Junior Heritage would raise his stature even more.
"I just try to do my best," he said. "Focus on each shot and maybe make a couple of birdies."
Gresco typically spends Super Bowl weekend at his hometown PGA Tour event, one of some 20,000 who pack the raucous arena built around the 16th hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
He said this is the first time in five years he's missed the carnival.
"Yeah, I definitely don't want to not be there and not have a fun time here," said Gresco, whose round featured just one birdie and one bogey.
This story was originally published February 7, 2016 at 11:30 AM with the headline "IJGA's Go only golfer under par after Day 1 of Sea Pines Jr. Heritage."