Fairmount's Todd Wood leads Senior Amateur after Round 1
September 22, 2020 - Todd Wood of Fairmount parred his final seven holes on his way to a one-over-par 72 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the 36-hole 62nd NJSGA Senior Amateur Championship, presented by NJM Insurance Group, on Tuesday at the par-71, 6,246-yard Suburban Golf Club in Union.
Jim Dolce of White Beeches is in second place with a 73, followed by Chris Housen of Manasquan River and Adam Kugler of Alpine, both at 74. Mark Cubberley of Mercer Oaks is alone in fifth place at 75. Defending champion Norm Lewis of Mercer County shot 76.
A total of 29 golfers who carded eight-over-par 79 or better return for Wednesday’s final round.
Scoring & Round 2 Starting Times
“I’ve played here a few times. It’s tricky. You have to know what you are doing on the greens,” said Wood, 60, who recently won the senior division club championship at Baltusrol Golf Club, where he is also a member.
In recent years, Wood has fared well in the Senior Amateur. In 2016, he tied for second place behind champion Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge and in 2018, he tied for third when Anthony Fioretti of Ballyowen won in a playoff. He did not compete in 2019 due to a conflict in his schedule.
Wood, a resident of Chatham. was the low amateur at the Metropolitan Golf Association’s Senior Open in 2017, finishing tied for seventh behind champion Bill Britton of Trump National-Colts Neck.
“I got off to a good start today and was one-under on the front side,” said Wood, who carries a 1.9 handicap index. He bogeyed the par-4 10th hole and par-3 11th hole to go one-over-par. But Wood registered pars the rest of the way.
“The key was hitting it into the correct spots on the greens. You can’t be above the hole here,” Wood said. “I drove it pretty well and my iron play was pretty solid today. That helped me.”
