By Marc Hardin, Post contributor
Defending champion Tom Leone rallied from a disastrous front nine to put himself in position to repeat as winner of the Northern Kentucky Junior Amateur Golf Tournament in Monday's first round at soggy Fort Mitchell Country Club.
But Leone will have to hold off good friend Ben Luttrell in the final round today to secure back-to-back titles. The final round was slated to begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Playing in an off-and-on drizzle, Leone and Luttrell each shot a 76 on the rolling par-70 course for a tie atop the leader board.
Luttrell, 17 and a senior this fall at Boone County High School, played the more consistent round firing a 38 on both the front and back nines. He carded a birdie, 11 pars and six bogeys.
''I shot well off the tee and three-putted five holes,'' Luttrell said. ''But I've still got work to do because this course will jump up and bite you.''
Leone, 18, struggled on the front nine with a 41 thanks to a quadruple-bogey on the par-3 fourth hole and a triple-bogey on No. 7, also a par 3. He came back to card three birdies and a 35 on the back nine, the lowest nine-hole score of the day.
''I hit it too far right off the tee on No 4. and couldn't recover,'' said Leone, a St. Henry graduate who will attend Northern Kentucky University this fall on a golf scholarship. ''On No. 7, I hit it into the bunker and buried it, and lost it from there.''
Leone and Luttrell have a history of close contests and championships at the Junior Amateur.
Leone beat Luttrell by a stroke in the to win the 15-16 age group in 1996 when he birdied No. 18 in a sudden-death playoff at Devou Park Golf Course. Luttrell was coming off a win in the 13-14 age group in the 1995 tourney at Summit Hills. Leone won the overall title last year with a 146 at Sugar Bay.
''Me and Tom are good friends,'' Luttrell said. ''We work together and we play together at Boone Links. If one of us wins this year, that would be great.''
Tyler Averdick and Ben Zapp, each shooting a 79, are tied for third place behind Leone and Luttrell in the 17-18 age group.
John Chambers leads the 15-16 age group by four strokes over second-place Glen Davidson after firing a 77, good for third-place overall. Chambers, a 16-year-old senior to be at Lloyd, birdied No. 13 and added 11 pars.
''I didn't use a driver off the tee all day and hit with a three-wood,'' Chambers said. ''I think that kept me straight on the fairways, and I putted pretty well.''
Brian Lewin leads the 13-14 age group with an 81, two strokes better than Brad Fritz. Nine year-old Alex Volpenhein shot a 90 and leads the 11-12 age group by 13 strokes over Kyle Landrum.
Said Fort Mitchell Country Club pro Paul Augenstein: ''These are very good scores considering the playing conditions and the challenges this course presents to young golfers. We've got some relatively tight fairways here and some blind spots.''
With more rain expected this morning, tournament director Bob Leach said course groundskeepers will do everything they can to prevent the first weather-shortened Junior Amateur in the tournament's 32-year history.
''If it's a light rain, we'll try to squeeze in at least nine holes and hopefully the rest,'' Leach said. ''But if we get a lot of standing water or lightning, we won't play and the scores from (Monday) will be final.''
Northern Kentucky Jr. Amateur scores
Scores after Monday's first round of the Northern Kentucky Junior Amateur Golf Tournament at Fort Mitchell Country Club in Fort Mitchell:
17-18 AGE GROUP
Tom Leone 76
Ben Luttrell 76
Tyler Averdick 79
Ben Zapp 79
Drew Von Lehman 80
Steve Cunningham 83
Jon Biedenharn 84
Eric Kiely 86
Chris Groger 88
Jim Warken 89
Chris Kinman 90
Pat Dammert 91
Adam Seibel 92
Trevor Curren 95
Robbie Gordon 99
Mark Groger WD
Dominic Froelicher DNP
15-16 AGE GROUP
John Chambers 77
Glenn Davidson 81
Matt Lewin 82
Ross Kruetzjans 84
Jason Tate 85
Matt Eisenmenger 87
Adam Kunkel 87
Brook Reeves 88
Matt Arnold 89
Justin Jolly 89
Bradley Kohls 91
Anthony Gamm 94
Ryan Reisenberg 103
Michael Kidwell 106
Justin Brinkman 117
13-14 AGE GROUP
Brian Lewin 81
Brad Fritz 83
Kevin Moloney 84
Andrew Stephens 84
Andrew Spencer 86
Chad Ward 87
Blake Gehring 88
Matt Heister 88
Ben Reisenbeck 89
Matt Brungs 90
Brian Gooch 92
Kyle Jones 94
Brandon Granacher 96
David Heil 98
Scott Buckhout 99
Brian Quinn 100
Jonah Worstell 103
Marc Bain 105
Matt Miller 107
Michael Kennedy 108
Nick Lonneman 110
Luke Stone 112
Craig Lonkard 127
Kyle Schlotman DNP
11-12 AGE GROUP
Alex Volpenhein 90
Kyle Landrum 103
Eric Quinn 105
Alex Rechtin 108
Jonathan Sutton 109
Matt Nestheide 116
Bret Stephens 117
Ryan Faulhaber 120
Eric Wulfeck 123
Danny Steedman 124
Craig Kathman 128
Michael Bishop 142
Chris Schwanenberg 145
Andy Wulfeck 145
Adam Stone 152
10-AND-UNDER AGE GROUP
(9 holes)
Joey Landrum 49
Robert Gastenveld 65
Scott Kurtz 66
GIRLS 15-18 AGE GROUP
Kristen Schulte 101
Mindy Money 102
Missy Hite 112
Meghan McGee 125
Rachel Mudd INC
Publication date: 06-09-98
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