Defending champ Peter Wegmann leads State Senior Amateur

Peter Wegmann needed to dig into his golf bag and pull out some Top Flight balls because he was “tired of hitting $4 golf balls in the water.”

That was in Monday’s practice round, which served as the second time the Fort Lauderdale resident surveyed Bradenton Country Club on the eve of the 56th Florida State Senior Amateur Championship.

Wegmann, the defending champion, drove around the course Sunday to get a sense of the Donald Ross-designed track that was built in 1924 and redesigned by Ron Garl in 1999.

His poor practice round was a repeat of what happened in 2016. Wegmann followed that effort with the senior amateur title, ending an eight-year FSGA tournament drought, when he canned a 9-footer on the final hole in Ocala.

On Tuesday, Wegmann began his title defense in great form, eschewing his practice round performance. Consequently, Wegmann holds a one-shot lead following a 2-under-par 69 on the 6,500-yard, par-71 layout.

“I had pretty much a game plan on how I was going to play the course, and I hit the ball really well,” Wegmann said.

Wegmann hit 15 greens in regulation to position himself atop the leaderboard after the first round. Bonita Springs’ Robert Polk and Orlando’s Bret Voisin are tied for second after 1-under-par 70s.

The three were the only ones to post under-par rounds, and only five golfers were at even par or better.

“It’s a shotmaker’s golf course,” said Bradenton Country Club member George DeSear, who carded a 74 to tie for 15th. “You have to drive it and keep it in play, and if you don’t have a short game then you’re not going to be able to score.”

Blustery winds arose toward the tail end of the afternoon wave, which featured several golfers dropping shots on their second nines.

Bradenton’s Jim Stone was 1-over par after starting on the back nine. Then disaster struck in his last five holes.

“When we got to five, it just had to be 30 miles an hour,” Stone said. “... Those last five holes were just brutal.”

Stone finished 6-over in his last five holes to post a 78 and tie for 62nd.

Others that slipped from near the lead: Lake Worth’s Craig Howell went from 1-under par after nine to 4-over par and a tie for 24th, and Jacksonville’s David Anthony went from 1-under par after nine to 3-over par and a tie for 15th.

“It’s narrow; there’s water. You just have to hit it straight,” Stone said. “And with the wind blowing, it just throws extra doubts into your mind and makes it harder. Period.”

Wegmann did his damage during the morning wave and by minimizing his mistakes. Even when he struck his layup on the 500-yard, par-5 15th hole into the water hazard, Wegmann rebounded with an up-and-down from 108 yards to salvage par.

“That kept the momentum,” Wegmann said.

His lone bogey came on the 16th hole, when he three-putted.

Otherwise, Wegmann stayed away from trouble and his three birdies netted him the lowest opening round among the 144 player field.

“For my practice round, I had an 8:32 (a.m.) tee time and I showed up in the parking lot at 8:24,” Wegmann said. “I put my shoes on two minutes before we teed off. I didn’t hit any practice balls or do anything. I’m almost 60 years old now. So I’ve got to really stretch it out. (Tuesday), I was there a good hour and 15 minutes ahead of time and I stretched it out. I went through my whole routine like I normally do.”

But Tuesday was just the first round in a 54-hole tournament, and Wegmann’s strategy is to get himself into position come Thursday’s final round.

“It’s all nonsense until you start the playing the back nine (Thursday) and you have a chance to win,” Wegmann said.

Jason Dill: 941-745-7017, @Jason__Dill

at Bradenton Country Club, Bradenton

Peter Wegmann, Fort Lauderdale 69

Robert Polk, Bonita Springs 70

Bret Voisin, Orlando 70

Buck Baumann, Naples 71

Doug LaCrosse, Tampa 71

K C Fox, Sarasota 72

Mark McLain, Saint Petersburg 72

Lloyd Fisher, Dade City 73

Chip Holcombe, Saint Johns 73

Bill Barnes, Bonita Springs 73

Walt Taormina, Boca Raton 73

Jim Skillman, Belleair Beach 73

Jerry Rose, Sarasota 73

Robert Parker, Sanford 73

Chris Chocola, Naples 74

Jim Carley, Ormond Beach 74

Bill Moore, Tampa 74

Roger Dean, Ormond Beach 74

George DeSear, Bradenton 74

Owen Joyner, Bonita Springs 74

Dan Smith, Naples 74

David Anthony, Jacksonville 74

Mike Riley, Panama City 74

Tim Hume, Crystal River 75

Nelson DeBow, Port Saint Lucie 75

Gregg Shires, Fort Myers 75

Jeff Monroe, Saint Augustine 75

Michael Bell, Sarasota 75

Rokki Rogan, Fort Myers 75

Daniel Gregg, Estero 75

Stuart Smith, Saint Johns 75

Neil Vanleeuwen, Tarpon Springs 75

Pete Williams, Juno Beach 75

Tom Rex, Naples 75

Bob Mathers, Niceville 75

Craig Howell, Lake Worth 75

Kevin Macy, Tampa 75

John Vaccaro, Sarasota 75

Don Whittemore, Temple Terrace 75

Donald Staton, Boca Raton 75

Paul LaCamera, Lady Lake 76

Tim Miller, Venice 76

Lee Booker, Naples 76

Bryan Kiefer, Destin 76

Mike Vallencourt, Orange Park 76

David Houghton, Brewster, Mass. 76

Keith Nagy, Jacksonville Beach 76

Tom Hagan, Tampa 77

Rich Kyllonen, Sarasota 77

Bob Levy, Windermere 77

Peter Swanson, Bonita Springs 77

Mike Bodney, Jacksonville 77

Jeff Allen, Englewood 77

Richard Kerper, Oldsmar 77

Marcus Beck, Tallahassee 77

Tom Norton, Reunion 77

Robert Cunningham, St. Cloud 77

Doug Stroup, Naples 77

Robbie Dew, Palm Beach Gardens 77

Mark McBride, Alva 77

Carl Erickson, Morriston 77

Jack Bracken, Venice 78

Sam Till, Bonita Springs 78

Michael Milthorpe, Ormond Beach 78

Harry Black, Niceville 78

Tom Grady, Lakewood Ranch 78

Keith Keister, Orlando 78

Ralph Remmert, Valrico 78

Pete Andrews, Lithia 78

Ted Speltz, Tampa 78

Tom Halchak, Naples 78

Peter Sherwin, Cape Coral 78

Michael Mercier, Juno Beach 78

Jim Stone, Bradenton 78

Robert Robinson, Saint Petersburg 78

Mark Durkin, Destin 78

Steve Gallant, Bonita Springs 79

Rob Norland, Gainesville 79

Jon Empanger, Venice 79

Michael Sanger, Juno Beach 79

John Mulrain, Panama City Beach 79

Steve Sponder, Plantation 79

Walter Himelsbaugh, Leesburg 79

Michael Mozur, Gulf Breeze 79

Doug Snoap, Apopka 79

David Tassell, Jupiter 79

Edward Parnell, Altamonte Springs 79

Al LeFevre, Boca Raton 79

Edward Kosek, Dunedin 79

Chuck Davis, Tampa 79

Michael Miller, Orlando 80

Flynt Lincoln, Pembroke Pines 80

Stuart Sierra, Tampa 80

Tom Gallagher, The Villages 80

Robert Bernadino, Naples 80

Anthony Baccari, Odessa 80

Mark Henderson, Bradenton 80

Rick Malinski, Coconut Creek 80

Randy Elliott, Winter Park 80

Steve Earsley, Hobe Sound 80

Bobby Barben, Avon Park 80

John Skinner, Miami Lakes 81

James DiBiase, North Palm Beach 81

Bill Hardaker, Atlantic Beach 81

Gordon Marshall, Sarasota 81

Rocky Dimartino, Oakland Park 81

Roger Flaherty, San Antonio 81

Tim Wilson, Apopka 81

Orlando Rodriguez, Miami 82

Michael Schmid, Parrish 82

Mark Skovera, Tallahassee 82

John Hall, Sarasota 83

Joel Benes, North Miami Beach 83

Joe Pantaleo, Miami Beach 83

Carey Watson, Plantation 83

Tom McCabe, Tallahassee 83

Dan Rice III, Wellington 84

Mark Kontny, Ponte Vedra Beach 84

T P Tunstall, Lakeland 84

Eddie Bass, Bradenton 84

Hank Porter, Naples 84

Patrick Coyne, Fleming Island 84

Brian Cameron, Lake Mary 84

Thomas Spriggs, Fort Myers 85

Sandy Smith, Belle Isle 85

John Milton, Jacksonville 85

Richard Burns, Gulf Breeze 85

Craig DelFabro, Lakewood Ranch 86

Rich Lengieza, Jupiter 86

Robert Rand, Daytona Beach 87

Terry Swartz, Lake Placid 87

Chuck Campbell, The Villages 87

Paul Felker, Middleburg 88

Tom Murray, Orlando 88

Craig Doering, Boca Raton 89

Thomas Rodgers, Orlando 90

Jim Fitzpatrick, Clearwater 90

Mike Bondy, Fort Myers 92

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Defending champ Peter Wegmann leads State Senior Amateur."