The 120th Indiana Amateur Championship began today at the difficult and historic Country Club of Indianapolis. With tree lined fairways, keeping the ball in play was a must. Howver, for Austin Vukovits, rising junior at Mississippi State University, playing aggressively off the tee grabbed him the lead heading into round two.
“At first I was kind of hitting it everywhere, so I had to settle down and trust what we’ve been practicing,” Vukovits said. “My caddy [Max Niehans] was big today and helped me feel confident hitting a lot of drivers off the tee, and it really worked out.”
Vukovits’ round consisted of five birdies and only two bogeys today for an 18-hole total of 3-under-par, 67.
“I’ve been prepping really hard for this event and I feel like I’m trending in the right direction. “It would mean a lot to win this week.”
Four players sit at 2-under-par, just one-shot back, including 2019 Mid-Amateur Champion, Kenny Cook, Illinois University’s Noah Gillard, University of Cincinnati’s Ty Gingerich, and Ball State University’s Keegan Bronnenberg.
“The golf course is gettable with the greens and I feel like if I play my game, I will be up there,” Cook said. “We’ll see what happens. It’s a really good field.”
“It would be a great accomplishment if I were to win this event,” added Gingerrich. “It would be an honor.”
Six players are also tied at 1-under-par, making tomorrow’s round that much more