Ian Locklear leads crowded pack as no one goes low in RCGC opener

LUMBERTON — As one contender after another walked off the 18th green at Pinecrest Country Club Friday, nobody seemed to feel they’d played their best. Everyone described a grind as the course put up a strong defense Friday.

“I’m exhausted man,” Jamie Locklear said. “You know how that goes; you’re trying to grind, like a dog chasing a car. Having to chip, and four- and five-footers out here, you’re not going to survive that way.”

That came not from a man in the back half of the field, but very near the lead.

Only one player broke par in the opening round of the 44th annual Robeson County Golf Championship, with Ian Locklear setting the pace in the Championship Division after a 1-under 71. With the lack of low scores, though, a big pack of the county’s best players sits right behind; Jamie Locklear and Richie Chmura sit one stroke back at even par, the trio of Ryan Bass, Mike Chuchacz and Steve Pippin each sit two behind at 1 over. Some 15 players are with five strokes of the lead with 36 holes still to play.

Everyone started slow, with no player in the Championship Division shooting under par on Pinecrest’s front nine. Those atop the leaderboard largely attained their position by working through that front-nine grind to post a more solid back-nine score.

That was the case for Ian Locklear, the 2011 tournament champion, who made double bogey at the second hole and bogeyed the third. He turned in 2-over 38 after a birdie at the par-5 eighth, then caught fire for a back-nine of 3-under 33, including birdies at the 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th holes after a bogey at the par-3 10th.

“I played solid on the back nine, made some putts on the back nine that I needed,” Ian Locklear said. “Other than that, I’m just looking forward to tomorrow.”

Ian Locklear, who finished fifth last year, stated that he’s often shot himself out of the tournament in the first round, but Friday was different and leaves him in the best position headed into the weekend.

“This is way better than I usually start; I usually start with a 73, 74, 75, something like that, and I’m out of contention by a few shots,” he said. “We’re looking forward to moving day tomorrow.”

Jamie Locklear, the 2023 tournament runner-up who has finished in the top four in five of the last six years but hasn’t yet won the tournament, also opened with a front-nine 38 before coming home in 34 to get back to level par.

“Just not hitting the fairway on the first four or five holes,” said Jamie Locklear, who was among the first group of Championship Division players to tee off. “I bogeyed both par-3s on the front. I still scrambled all day, that’s what I’m used to doing anyway. The course is playing pretty tough now, I’m going to tell you. If you get some rain on it, the way (Pinecrest superintendent Chris Jackson) sets it up all the time for us — yeah. But I’ve got to hit more greens.”

Like Ian Locklear, Jamie Locklear made a birdie run on the second side, with circles on the scorecard on the 13th, 15th and 17th, though he did make bogey at the 16th.

Chmura, tied with Jamie Locklear for second, had three birdies and three bogeys in a steady round of 72.

“I drove the ball pretty good,” Chmura said. “I was able to keep the ball mostly in play throughout the day. The short game kind of really came alive and kept me in the moment throughout the whole day, and it was just being a wet course, trying to stay out of the rough there, so I was able to keep the ball in the fairway a majority of the day and try to rely on my short game to try and push me through the day.”

Chmura was 2 over par through four holes after bogeys at the second and fourth, but only made one bogey the rest of the way, at the 10th, and birdied the eighth, 11th and 17th. He’s pleased with his tournament position after the opening 18 holes.

“I love where I’m at,” Chmura said. “The goal for today was to try and just put myself around even par. I can’t win it the first day, so I just wanted to make sure I didn’t also lose it the first day. Just wanted to be as conservative as I could and get myself up there, and hopefully tomorrow I can make a move towards the better, and try to take care of some of these bogeys and just kind of keep myself under par as much as I can.”

The group at 1 over par, two strokes behind Ian Locklear, is headlined by Ryan Bass, the five-time tournament champion who has won in four of the last five years. Bass was 4 over par through 16 holes, but pitched in for eagle on the par-4 17th and birdied the home hole to get back to a 1-over total.

Bass shot a 2-over 38 on the front nine and reached the 4-over mark after bogey at the par-5 15th.

“It was a struggle most of the day. … It wasn’t just one thing; nothing was good, everything was just average. I missed in some pretty bad spots, hard to get up-and-down from,” Bass said. “I bogeyed 15 and it was just like it drained everything out of me. … I was kind of in that mindset of, man I’m pretty much done. But luckily I chipped in on 17 for eagle and I hit it tight on 18 to make birdie to finish at 73. Judging by the scores now, I’m happy with where I’m at, especially with how I played. At one point I thinking I’m out of it; I’m 4 over par, if somebody shoots 69 or 70, I’m going to be six shots back after one day, that’s just a lot to come from.”

The holeout on the 17th came from about 40 yards as the ball one-hopped on the green and landed in the cup.

“It was a luck shot, but I’ll take it, I’m not complaining at all.”

Pippin, the tournament champion in 2016 and 2021, recovered from an early double bogey at the third hole with birdies on the eighth, 11th and 15th in his round of 73.

“This year I didn’t the time into the practice, I’ve been playing all year,” Pippin said. “I figure I either have it or I don’t. Every year I want to win this tournament so bad; this year I was like, it’s just another tournament, and I wasn’t nervous all day, so I just went out there, had two good guys to play with.”

Pippin noted that in his two tournament victories he also shot 73 in the opening round.

“If I shoot two rounds in the 60s anything can happen,” he said.

Chuchacz rounds out the group at 1 over par just days after winning the club championship at Fairmont, struggling Friday with both his driving and putting.

“I didn’t hit it off the tee well,” Chuchacz said. “The tee ball wasn’t good and the putting was not good at all. I missed a lot of three-footers, two-footers.”

He described missing several makeable putts throughout the round.

Jeff Slabe and Brad Locklear are tied for seventh at 2 over par, three strokes behind Ian Locklear. Both shot 35 on the back nine after starting the day with a front-nine 39.

John Haskins, Landon Lowry, David Lowery Jr. and Mack Kenney each shot 3-over 75 and are tied for ninth. Lowery shot an even-par 36 on the front nine, the best score in the Championship Division.

Two 15-year-olds, Jesse Pittman and Logan Locklear, are tied for 13th alongside Jeff Wishart at 4-over 76, five strokes off the lead.

Out of the 31 players participating in the Championship Division, 20 remain within seven strokes of the lead after the opening round.

Lowry leads Super Senior Division

While the Championship Division has a crowded leaderboard, the tournament’s Super Senior Division features a two-man runaway.

Ray Lowry leads the division after a 1-over-par 73, two strokes clear of Cliff Nance. No other player is closer than seven strokes behind.

Lowry’s 73 comes on the strength of a front-nine score of 1-under 35, the only player in either division to break par on that side of the course.

Cliff Nance shot a 3-over-par 75, shooting 38 on the front nine and 37 on the back. Nance won the Super Senior Division title in 2021.

Greg Canady sits in third place after an opening-round 80, which included a front-nine 38.

Larry Lynn Locklear, the division winner the last two years, is fourth after a round of 81, eight strokes behind Lowry. Bob Antone is fifth with an 82, with Donnie Beck, Larry McNeill and William Lowry each carding an 83 to tie for sixth.

The Super Senior Division concludes with Saturday’s round.

Tournament play begins Saturday in the Regular, Senior and Ladies divisions.