With the help of his 13 year-old brother, Timothy Hildebrand shares the lead after the opening round of the 100th Indiana Open Championship. Hildebrand posted a 5-under-par, 67 across the 6995 Brickyard Crossing GC layout, and claims brother Danny told him to ‘fire at the pin’ the entire round.
“Danny definitely kept me motivated out there today,” Hildebrand said. “He told me to play aggressive and to literally aim at every pin. I took his advice and was able to go low today.”
Hildebrand recently graduated from Westfield High School and was a member of the 2015 IHSAA State Championship team. He looks for his first Indiana Golf win this week and plans to have Danny and his other brother Stephen as his alternating caddies this week.
“My brothers are both great golfers and it is a lot of fun having them out there with me,” Hildebrand said. “My family calls me ‘Monkey’ so Danny pretended to be a monkey climbing a tree today whenever I got upset out there. It definitely made me laugh and calmed me down throughout the day.”
Hildebrand’s goal for the week was to post two scores under par and he is half way there. Danny will be on the bag again tomorrow and has a few words of advice for his brother.
“Timmy needs to make sure he reads his putts right. I’ll be out there to help him on the greens and tell him to where to aim. I really look up to him, that’s for sure.”
Jose Segurola of Indianapolis also shares the lead at 5-under-par. Segurola is a recent graduate of IUPUI and this is his first tournament as a professional.
“I hit a lot of fairways and greens today,” Segurola said. “I’ve been practicing really hard and it showed today. I know this course very well and feel comfortable out here.”
Segurola also gave credit to his caddie Emma, who was on the bag this morning.
“Emma did an awesome job. This was her first time caddying for me and she was really good at reading putts.
2013 Indiana Amateur Champion, Adam Schenk, is currently one shot back after posting a 4-under-par, 68.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to win a State Open,” said Schenk, a Purdue University graduate and player on the PGA Tour Latin America. “I came into this event wanting to win and I feel fortunate that I was able to get off to a good start. You can’t win a four day tournament based on your first two days, but you can definitely lose one.”
Ben Marvin Egle of Kokomo, Jack Sparrow of Floyds Knobs and Michael Sharp of Kendallville are also tied for third at 4-under-par.
After tomorrow’s round, the field will be cut to the low 70 players, including ties.
Tee times will begin tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.