Barry Milstead of Valley Country Club shot a 3-under-par 69 and shares 16th place out of 264 players after Thursday’s opening round of the national Senior PGA Professional Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Milstead (left) carded three birdies in a bogey-free round on Thursday. He sits five strokes out of the lead.
Also posting under-par totals for Colorado PGA players were reigning Colorado Senior PGA Professional Champion Mike Zaremba of Desert Hawk at Pueblo West (70, good for 34th place) and PGA Life Member Chris Johnson of Castle Rock (71, 54th place).
Sherry Andonian-Smith of Valley CC, who became the first woman to compete in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship, opened with an even-par 72, leaving her in 80th place. Andonian-Smith, the Colorado PGA’s inaugural Woman’s Player of the Year who originally was an alternate for the competition, recorded three birdies and three bogeys in round 1.
“If you would have given me that score, I would have taken it,” Andonian-Smith told PGA.com. “But once I got out there, I was a little embarrassed on the greens (putting). I’m trying to make Bermuda (grass) my friend.”
The 72-hole tournament will continue through Sunday. The field will be cut to the low 90 players and and ties after 36 holes, and to the low 70 and ties after 54 holes.
The low 35 finishers on Sunday will earn berths into the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Rochester, N.Y., May 23-26, and the top top five finishers will land exemptions into the final stage of the 2018 PGA Tour Champions Q-School.
Here are the round-by-round scores for competitors from the Colorado PGA:
16. Barry Milstead, Valley CC 69
34. Mike Zaremba, Desert Hawk at Pueblo West 70
54. Chris Johnson, Colorado PGA Life Member 71
80. Sherry Andonian-Smith, Valley CC 72
103. Doug Rohrbaugh, Snowmass Club 73
103. Jeff Hanson, Red Sky GC 73
252. Mike McCutchen, Family Sports 81
For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
