58th Delaware Open: Day One

Home-course hero Chanaud surges to the top

OCEAN VIEW, Del. – For many of the Delaware Open competitors they needed to wake up and drive themselves various amounts of distances and times to make their first-round tee time.

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Michael Chanaud woke up and made the less than five minute commute. His family lives just off of the first hole of the Black Bear nine at the host site.

Chanaud, the reigning Delaware Mid-Open champion, used his long-standing course knowledge to his advantage to fire a bogey-free 65 to seize the Day One lead of the 58th Delaware Open at Bear Trap Dunes (par 72, 6,901 yards). 

Bear Trap Dunes has 27 holes of golf, with three differently-named nines. Black Bear, Grizzly and Kodiak. The routing being used for the championship is Black Bear to Grizzly.

“I grew up here at Bear Trap,” Chanaud, 29, said. “I’ve played here probably about a thousand times. For me, having success here revolves around hitting my driver well and making putts. If you keep the ball in play here, you will have plenty of opportunities to score. I know the greens extremely well. That’s a huge advantage.”

Amateur Ford Bennett of Merion Golf Club and professionals Zachary Barbin (Chesapeake Bay Golf Club) and Tom Eisenacher (Frog Hollow Golf Club) sit in second after rounds of 67.

Defending champion Zac Oakley, a professional out of Bidermann Golf Club, sits in a tie for ninth after a round of 69.

Chanaud went out in 2 under on the Black Bear nine and then roared coming home on the Grizzly nine.

He lit the fuse with a pitching wedge from 142 yards to a foot on No. 10 (par 4, 434 yards). A two-putt birdie took care of business on No. 11 (par 5, 541 yards).

He enthusiastically edged a gap wedge from 120 yards to 20 feet on No. 14 (par 4, 425 yards) and canned another birdie. A 10-footer on No. 15 (par 4, 387 yards) got him to 6 under. A roller-coaster two-putt on No. 18 (par 5, 534 yards) closed out the 65. A solid score for Chanaud. But not his best.

He holds the course record on this routing with a 63.

“I just have to stay patient and keep the bogeys off the card,” Chanaud, a Towson University graduate, said. “If you are in position here, it is hard to make bogeys. I’m going to show up and hit driver. The driver is the best club in my bag. Bomb and gouge is what I am all about. I am going to continue working on avoiding bogeys. My goal is to birdie the par 5s and try to get a couple more.”

Chanaud’s professional journey has been a seven-year bout. A roller coaster of emotions and varying form on the golf course had him wondering if it had run its course. But an impromptu decision has him excited about the future.  

“I wasn’t playing well and was bummed out,” Chanaud said. “If I am not playing, I love to teach. When my PGA TOUR Canada status ran out, I had nowhere to play. So I needed a job and had to make some money. Average golf isn’t making you any money. I am working on transitioning into being a teaching professional as opposed to a playing professional. I work in the bag room at The Peninsula and am working through the bookwork to become a PGA professional. I have taught some Junior camps and I really enjoy it.”

Coming off a T7 finish in last year’s event Chanaud has his sights on the ultimate triumph. A hometown victory. 

“We have an awesome membership here at Bear Trap,” Chanaud said. “I had about 30 people following me all day. I love this place a lot. They have been really supportive of me.”

GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 340 Member Clubs and 100,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.