Former Champ Gotterup's 66 Leads Pre-senior Championship

Morten Gotterup of Rumson, the 2012 champion, fired a six-under-par 66 and grabbed a three-shot lead over defending champion Tom Fallon of Colts Neck and Roddy McRae of Baltusrol after the first round of the 36-hole NJSGA 57th Pre-Senior Championship at the 6,475-yard Hawk Pointe Golf Club in Washington.

The Pre-Senior championship is for players ages 45 to 54.

The field was cut to the top 40 players and ties for Thursday morning’s final round.

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Mike Paduano of Eagle Oaks and John Olsen of Black Oak were five shots back at 71. Kenny Bontz of Jumping Brook, the 2014 National Amputee Champion playing in his first Pre-Senior, shot 74 and attained his long sought-after goal of making the cut.

“I some work done over the winter on the hip replacement I had four years ago, and it’s helped me make a fuller turn. I’m easily getting 20 more yards on my drives,” said Gotterup, 48, a mall media specialist.

“I played nine holes here two weeks ago and it was blowing, so I didn’t get a feel for the course. This is definitely my low in tournament competition. Nothing pointed toward this happening. I putted well and had good par saves.”

Gotterup’s round included six birdies and zero bogeys.

“I was driving it straight. I wasn’t in trouble. I putted well and made good par saves. On the second hole, I drained a 30-footer for a par save,” he said.

Gotterup, who earned a tennis scholarship to St. Mary’s College in California, started golfing at age 25.

In 2012, Gotterup won the 54th NJSGA Pre-Senior Championship by sinking a 10-foot par putt on the 18th hole at the 6,500-yard Morris County Golf Club in Morristown, N.J. That took place on September 11 and Goterup dedicated the victory to Todd Pelino, who lost his life on 9-11 in the World Trade Center tragedy.

“When I won in 2012, I thought there would always be a chance to win a second time, but I didn’t do well the past two years. I’m not thinking about winning again. I just want to go out and shoot something respectable,” Gotterup noted.

Fallon was four-under-par until he bogeyed the 18th hole. He played alongside Gotterup and Chris Housen of Manasquan River, who shot 72.

“Morten was never in trouble. It was a pleasure to watch. If I putted like him, I would’ve shot 66, too. He really played a perfect round of golf,” Fallon, 47, said.

When Fallon won the Pre-Senior in 2014, it was his first victory since he won the NJSGA Mid-Amateur in 1999.

For McRae, who tied Fallon for the first-day lead last year before finishing eighth, it was the first time he broke 70 in tournament competition.

He carded six birdies and three bogeys and was four under on his front nine with a 32. He even holed in a wedge from 60 yards for a par.

“I’m excited,” he said.

Bontz last week won the Carlyle Barracks Pennsylvania Amputee Championship and the scratch golfer has vowed to make a cut in NJSGA competition this year. With a round that included two birdies, two bogeys and a double, he did just that.

In 2006, Bontz had his left leg amputated just above the knee, ending a 17-year battle with the malady (Ewing’s sarcoma), a type of cancer that had plagued him since he was 19 years old.

“I hit it really good. I recently changed to a new grip and I’m hitting it needle straight,” Bontz said.