The first question Mitchell Davis asked after he finished his round Sunday at Sand Creek Country Club was, “What did Mr. Jacobs shoot?”
Clearly, the Porter Amateur Masters Division is turning into a two-horse race.
Jacobs, the defending champion, protected his lead after finishing with a 1-under par 71 on Sunday in the second of four rounds.
Davis is three shots back after posting a 2-under par 70. Jacobs is 2-under for the tournament after opening with a 1-under 68 at Forest Park. No other golfer is within 10 shots of the lead.
Davis, the 2015 champion, had hoped to chew a little more off the lead on Sunday.
Sand Creek isn’t a place where golfers can get greedy. They have to take what the course is yielding.
Davis started fast, making birdies at Nos. 1 and 2 on the Creek course. He finished even par on his first nine and then made birdies at Nos. 10 and 14 on the Marsh course.
Davis was hoping to get just a little more out of his round. He had a three-putt bogey on No. 8 and he had another bogey on No. 5.
“I thought I could get to 68, but 70 isn’t bad,” he said. “I just got sloppy with a few shots.”
Jacobs, who is usually solid at Sand Creek, made three birdies and two bogeys. He did admit to getting a few breaks.
On No. 3, he missed going into the hazard by about two feet. He was also close to finding the hazard on No. 9.
Jacobs was happy to get through his round without any big numbers.
The greens, he said, were perfect. They were also super fast. That’s where trouble lurked.
“They were icy,” Jacobs said. “It was like putting on a pool table. I don’t make many putts when they are like this. You have to be so defensive. You just don’t want to have a 5-footer coming back.”
The next round will be played at The Brassie Golf Club on Saturday. Davis has some vibes for that course that will energize him.
His lowest competitive round ever was a 66 at Brassie when he was in eighth grade. He is looking forward to seeing what he can do when Jacobs will be in his group.
Davis didn’t play last year, but signed up this year to see what he could do.
“It should be fun,” he said. “I want to win this again. I’m looking forward to being paired with Mr. Jacobs. We always have fun together.”
Jacobs is just trying to be patient.
“You just have to take it one shot at a time and one round at a time,” he said. “There is a long way to go.”
Twitter @MikeHuttonPT
Porter Amateur
Through two of four rounds
Masters Division
At Forest Park (par 69) and Sand Creek (par 72)
Bob Jacobs 68-71–139, Mitchell Davis 72-70–142, Dave Vlasic 74-76–150, Brad Beyer 74-77–151, Larry Achten 72-82–154, Brandon Martin 78-79–157, Jeff Gilbertsen 78-81–159, Devin Trusty 79-80–159, Logan Lucas 79-80–159, Patrick Rinard 74-86–160, John Selman 72-88–160, Kevin Pastrick 80-81–161, Patrick Herrod 82-79–161, Nick Ladra 78-84–162, Jason Schwerdt 82-80–162, Chuck Welter 80-82–162, Dale Jalovecky 81-83–164, Tony Daniels 74-90–164, Eric Lewis 84-82–166, Kevin Tran 82-87–169, Tom Spartz 77-93–170, Andrew Karr 86-94–180, Dominic Marten 83-88–171, Mark Civanich 87-89–176, Erik Wiseman 85-95–180, Sean Elliott 91-94–185.
Women’s Division
At Forest Park (par 69) and Sand Creek (par 72)
Donna Howell 84-85–169, Natalie Achten 82-92–174, Michelle Loudermilk 90-91–181, Debra Smith 96-94–190, Sophia Roeske 100-92–192, Mary Pomeroy 91-101–192, Julie Leonard 93-101–194, Libby Gilliland 108-111–219.
Open Division
At The Brassie (par 72) and Valparaiso Country Club (par 72)
Jaron Coleman 83-87–170, Barry Rippe 78-94–172, Val Burton 87-85–172, Ricardo Hall 82-90–172, Lance Suggs 91-91–182, Joe Kramer 92-90–182, Michael Sakich 89-100–189, Dave Tuskan 86-104–190, Ronald Griede 91-99–190, Kevin Jones 93-97–190, Mark Stymiest 94-96–190, Dave Povlinski 92-98–190, Shawn Hepko 95-96–191, Marshall Hoffman 91-101–192, Richard Thompson 93-101–194, Mike Hutton 99-99–198, Mike Wells 93-106–199, Matthew Simmons 95-107–202, Kevin Selby 99-106–205, Clayton Campbell 100-107–207, Harold Rozinski 114-118–232.
