Alexander, Long, Rende and Radford share clubhouse lead at Mount Vintage
North Augusta, S.C. – (March 14, 2013) – Tyson Alexander, Adam Long, Derek Rende and Zac Radford carded 2-under 70s in the first round of the NGA TOUR’s Kandy Waters Memorial Classic and were tied atop the leaderboard when play was suspended due to darkness Thursday evening.
After a two-hour frost delay, the play in the $200,000 event was nearly as chilly as the temperatures in the first round, with only eight players that completed the first round posting rounds under par at Mount Vintage Plantation Golf Club.
After reaching 4-under par through 16 holes, Long, a former Duke Blue Devil from Lake St. Louis, Mo., looked to be en route to the clubhouse lead alone but a double bogey on the finishing hole dropped the 2012 Web.com Tour member into a tie for the lead.
Former NGA TOUR winner Alexander, a University of Florida alumnus from Gainesville, Fla., carded four birdies and two bogeys in the first round to join Long atop the leaderboard, while Rende (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) and Radford (Brentwood, Tenn.) did the same, posting four birdies and two bogeys on Thursday.
NGA TOUR rookie Trent Whitekiller of Sallisaw, Okla., continued his stellar play in the first round of the 14th annual event. The Oklahoma State alumnus opened with 1-under 71 to extend his par-or-better round streak to nine. Whitekiller finished the first round tied for fifth with Paul Apyan (Hixson, Tenn.), Brian Richey (Lakeland, Fla.) and Derek Bohlen (Fountain Hills, Ariz.).
Jack Newman, the 2008 U.S. Public Links champion from Des Moines, Iowa, carded an even-par 72 in the first round and finished the day tied for ninth with Shawn Jasper (Marthasville, Mo.), Erik Barnes (Cape Coral, Fla.), Lee Chaney (Morehead, Ky.), Scott Feaster (Columbia), Patrick Wilkes-Krier (Orlando, Fla.), Daniel Charen (Langhorne, Pa.), Brent Long (Carthage, Tenn.), Brandon Smith (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Garland Smith (Johnston) and 2013 NGA TOUR winner Clayton Rask (Otsego, Minn.).
The first round of the Kandy Waters Memorial Classic will resume at 8 a.m. and the second round will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday. As always, admission is free to the public.
The NGA Pro Golf Tour is the No. 3 Men’s Professional Golf Tour in the United States after the PGA and Web.com Tours and is the No. 1 recommended developmental tour by more PGA and Web.com Tour Professionals.
The NGA has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA TOUR, Euro, Web.com, and Champions Tour cards. In fact, NGA alumni have won an incredible Fifteen (15) “Major” Championships.
NGA alumni include: 2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson; 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley; 2010 PGA TOUR Player of the Year and 2003 US Open Champion Jim Furyk; 2009 British Open Champion Stewart Cink; 2009 U.S. Open Champion Lucas Glover; 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson; 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel; 2003 British Open Champion Ben Curtis; two-time U.S. Open Champion Lee Janzen; British Open and PGA Champion John Daly; British Open Champion Tom Lehman; PGA Champion David Toms; 2003 Tour Championship Winner Chad Campbell; 2010 NGA Player of the Year Michael Thompson; 2012 PGA TOUR winners Mark Wilson, George McNeill, Ted Potter Jr., Scott Stallings and Scott Piercy.
The NGA Pro Golf Tour, established in 1988, predates the Web.com Tour as the longest running developmental tour in golf. In 2012, the NGA TOUR became the “Official Partner of the 2012 Reno-Tahoe Open” and secured one PGA TOUR and six Web.com Tour event exemptions for its members, the most in developmental golf.
