Valley Sports ReportSTATE COLLEGE — Athens junior Eli Hicks struggled early, but shot 1-under par over the final 10 holes, and finished Day 1 of the PIAA, Class 3A Boys Golf Championships with a 79 here on a very windy and cool Monday at the Penn State Blue Course.
Hicks shot a 43 on the front nine and finished with an even-par 36 on the back nine for a 7-over par 79 on 6,329-yard, par-72 course. He is tied for 40th in the 72-player Class 3A field.
"I was pleased with how I hit the ball and scored today," said Hicks.
"The weather conditions made choosing the right club difficult on each hole," noted Hicks on a day that featured 40 mile-per-hour wind gusts.
"I was 8-over par after eight holes and to shoot one-under the last 10 holes was a big confidence boost," added Hicks.
Hicks parred the first hole, but played the next seven holes at 8-over par, including a double-bogey on the par-5 fifth hole.
Hicks finished off the front nine with a birdie on the 507-yard, par-5 ninth hole, sinking a five-foot for the four.
"The ninth hole was a par-5 and I was able to get my second shot hole high in two," said Hicks. "Seeing a putt go in for birdie allowed me to gain confidence going in to 10, and I was able to birdie two out of my next three holes.
Hicks opened the back nine with birdies on the 383-yard, par-4 10th hole, and the 570-yard, par-5 12th hole.
After a double-bogey on the par-3 14th hole and a bogey on the par-3 17th, Hicks finished off the day with his fourth birdie of the round on the 446-yard, par-5 18th hole.
Chase Yenser of Daniel Boone H.S. leads the 3A field by two strokes after posting a 4-under round of 68, while Fox Chapel's Carson Kittsley and South Fayette's Sam Bishop each shot 70.
Four golfers were a 1-under, and two more were even-par.
Last year, Hicks shot a 75 (35th place) on Day 1, and followed it up with a 79 on Day 2 for a two-day total of 154 and a 51st-place finish.
Round 2 tees off Tuesday morning.
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PHOTOS BY LANCE LARCOM.
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