After waiting out a six hour thunderstorm delay at Country
Club of Indianapolis, Eric Steger and Ben Moster both maintained patience and
composure to shoot 67 and share the lead at the 110th Indiana
Amateur Championship.
Steger attributed his round to hitting 16 greens, converting
one of the two up-and-down opportunities and avoided 3-putting all day. His
only bogey came at the final hole when he flared one off a side hill lie to the
opposite side of the green. Despite a great chip shot, he missed the putt to
save par. “You can’t win in the first round, but you can shoot yourself out of
it,” said Steger. He placed himself in contention for his first Indiana
Amateur. His dad Scott won it in 1975 before becoming a PGA Member.
Moster attributed his subpar round to his putting. “I made
three putts over 25 feet,” he said. “I just kept it in play and gave myself
birdie chances.” When he didn’t keep it in play and found himself in the woods,
he hit solid recovery shots to give himself a chance to save par at hole 1 and
make a birdie at the 10th. “I didn’t get too excited when I hit the
good ones and stayed flat all day,” Moster explained. He is also in the running
to claim his for Amateur victory.
Although Steger and Moster were able to complete their first round, the afternoon wave of tee times were delayed until 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. After the entire field completes 36 holes, the low 60 scores and ties will advance to the final two rounds of competition.