Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown: The elements present a fierce test on opening day at Paiute

Amid nan whipping upwind they recovered successful nan godforsaken connected Wednesday, 2 men from nan East Coast fought their measurement to nan lead astatine nan Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown. After a reliable opening time astatine Paiute Resort’s Snow Mountain people successful Las Vegas, Doug Stiles of Athens, Georgia, and Matthew Avril of Vero Beach, Florida, stock nan lead successful nan Senior division.

Across each 4 divisions, scores soared successful nan opening round. The section averaged 84.9 for nan opening 18 holes arsenic nan upwind blew 25-40 mph and nan time began astatine a crisp 40 degrees.

Stiles and Avril some landed astatine 8-over 80 for nan day. Avril didn’t make a birdie, and while Stiles made two, he besides had a mates of large numbers connected his card. Still, some men made nan astir of nan time and managed to return a one-shot advantage connected 5 players tied for 3rd astatine 9 over.

Scores: Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown

Among nan large group astatine 9 complete is Brady Exber, who is teeing it up this week successful his Las Vegas hometown aft captaining nan West squad to triumph astatine nan East West Matches astatine Maridoe Golf Club successful Carrollton, Texas, past week.

In nan Super Senior division, it isn’t each nan astonishing that Kevin Belknap from Wichita, Kansas, leads nan battalion pinch a information of 7-over 79. Belknap, from nan windy plains, fired 1 of conscionable 3 rounds nether 80 connected Wednesday. He leads Stevie Cannady of Pooler, Georgia, by a shot. Cannady, who won nan Golfweek Super Senior National Championship successful July, birdied nan 11th but double-bogeyed nan 18th.

The 2 champion scores of nan time came from nan Legends division, wherever Steve Cribari of La Quinta, California, and Neil Spitalny of Chattanooga, Tennessee posted rounds of 76 and 77, respectively.

Behind Cribari and Spitalny, nan next-best people successful nan section came from Michael Paulsen of Fort Worth, Texas, who had 82.

In nan Super Legends division, Greg Mokler of Timnath, Colorado, leads pinch 80. Steven Johnson of Las Vegas and Richard Hunt of Bixby, Oklahoma, are correct down him pinch rounds of 81.