For a guy so drained on Wednesday that he couldn’t finish a practice round, Joshua Mathis seemed to have plenty of pep in his step after the opening day of the 74th CGA Stroke Play Championship.
The 19-year-old from Colorado Springs Country Club, just now recovering from a case of strep throat, didn’t appear any worse for the wear Thursday despite having lost seven pounds in the last week. No doubt Mathis felt rejuvenated by shooting a bogey-free 5-under-par 65 at Boulder Country Club that gave him a three-stroke lead after round 1.
“I didn’t know if I’d be able to play,” said the sophomore-to-be on the Biola University golf team in La Mirada, Calif. “I was kind of weak and had taken all sorts of nutrients and stuff. I didn’t even finish my practice round (Wednesday). I was too tired.
“But I played well (Thursday). I was surprised that I was making putts and concentrating well. Obviously, I’m very happy.”
No player came close to matching Mathis in the first round. Lakewood Country Club’s Steve Irwin, son of three-time CGA Stroke Play champion Hale Irwin, and David Schroeder of the Broadmoor Golf Club share second place at 68.
Overall, nine players broke par on Thursday. Among those at 69 are three golfers who have won individual CGA championships in the last two years: Nick Allen of Raccoon Creek (2010 Junior Match Play), Zahkai Brown of Indian Tree (2009 Public Links) and Jon Lindstrom of Heritage at Westmoor (2008 Mid-Amateur).
Defending CGA Stroke Play champion Steve Ziegler of the Ranch Country Club opened with a 72 on Thursday.
Between vacationing and his illness, Mathis had played a grand total of 27 holes of golf in the three weeks leading up to the Stroke Play. Despite that — and the fact that he hadn’t played the back nine at BCC before Thursday — Mathis didn’t have a blemish on his scorecard in the first round. And his lead could have been even bigger had he not missed 4-foot birdie putts on his 16th and 17th holes, though he did save par from 20 feet on No. 18.
“I like to think golf isn’t as complicated as everyone says it is,” Mathis said. “Even though that’s not true, if I believe it’s true sometimes it works. If I think it’s nice and simple, sometimes it makes it easier.”
While Mathis has very little experience at BCC, Irwin has plenty. As a former University of Colorado golfer, he estimates he’s played the course more than 200 times.
“I’ve played it so many times in college and growing up that it’s kind of like coming home,” said Irwin, 36-year-old president of Colorado-based Hale Irwin Golf Services. “It’s more a comfort level, knowing where you can hit the ball and what the shots are going to be day in and day out.”
Six years ago, Irwin joined his dad as a winner of the CGA Match Play. Now, he’s hoping to do likewise in the Stroke Play, a tournament Hale Irwin won in 1963, ’64 and ’65.
“It was a lot of fun to put my name on the same trophy as dad for Match Play, so it would be fun to do it for this one as well,” Steve Irwin said. “Obviously, this is just Thursday and we’ve got a lot of golf left and there are a lot of good players. But it would be fantastic.”
Like Irwin, Schroeder finished with four birdies and two bogeys on Thursday. The Colorado Springs resident hadn’t seen BCC before Wednesday, but he’s quickly taken a liking to it.
“It’s a classic old course, which I like,” said the senior-to-be at Fort Lewis College in Durango. “I’m a member at the Broadmoor, so I’m used to old-style courses like this.”
The field will be cut to the low 40 players and ties after Friday’s second round. The tournament is scheduled to conclude on Sunday.
