Billy Kennerly takes first-round lead at Lincoln Land Championship presented by LRS
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Written by Staff
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Billy Kennerly survived windy conditions at Panther Creek Country Club to post a 6-under 65 and take a one-stroke lead after the first round at the Lincoln Land Championship presented by LRS. Blustery conditions led to a first-round scoring average more than four and a half strokes higher than last year’s opening round.
“I made a couple of midrange putts today and that makes scoring easier,” Kennerly said. “It’s tough to hit it terribly close in this wind, but I hit some good shots and some putts dropped. I guess I made a lot of birdies that I didn’t necessarily expect to make.”
Kennerly led the field with eight birdies – two more than any other player – including a chip-in from off the green on the third hole. He began his round with a bogey but birdied three of his next four to go 2-under on the front nine before tallying five birdies and a bogey on the back nine to reach 6-under.
“I played well…I bogeyed the first one, but that’s a really tough hole today, long and into the wind,” Kennerly said. “A bogey there wasn’t terrible, still not a great start, but then I kicked it into gear after that. I hit the middle of the greens a lot and then just made a few longer putts.”
The 26-year-old capped off his round with a 20-foot birdie putt, one he said would “make dinner taste a little better.”
Winds averaging 12-20 miles per hour (and reaching 30 miles per hour) had an obvious effect on scores in comparison to previous years. In last year’s first round, 36 players carded a 66 or better in mild conditions. This year, that number was two.
“Today was a lot different than last year’s tournament,” Kennerly said. “It just depends on the wind here. Two years ago it was similar to today with firmer, windier conditions, but last year it was softer and milder.”
Kennerly hit 14 out of 18 greens (T9) and 10 of 14 fairways (T11) on Thursday. The Clemson alum was joined on the course by his sister Wilton, who regularly caddies for him on Tour.
“It was originally her idea,” Kennerly said. “It happened back in college, she wanted to caddie, and I said, ‘if we can finish top-5, you can keep caddying,’ thinking it wouldn’t happen. Then it did, so she’s caddied ever since.”
Making his Web.com Tour debut, Matthew Campbell sits one shot off the lead. Campbell birdied five of his first eight holes before eventually finishing at 5-under 66. He began the week expecting to compete in the Massachusetts Open, but withdrew after receiving the call that he had gotten into the field in Springfield as an alternate.
“The Massachusetts Open started Monday and ended Wednesday, but my tee time was in the afternoon on Tuesday and I got the call early that morning,” said Campbell, originally from Rome, New York. “So I withdrew, booked a flight, took a bus down to the airport and here I am.”
After reaching out to Panther Creek Country Club about a last-minute caddie, Tobin Nell, a local golfer at Glenwood High School, toted the bag for Campbell on Thursday.
Second-round tee times will run in two waves from 6:30 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. on Friday at Panther Creek Country Club.