Chylinski heads Senior Amateur Championship after opening-round of 1-over-par 71

  PHILADELPHIA, Pa.–Edmund Chylinski of Chester Valley GC registered a 1-over-par 71 in the opening round of the Senior Amateur Championship on Tuesday at Torresdale-Frankford CC (par 70, 6,193 yards) to forge a one-shot lead with 18 holes to go. The second and final round of the 35^th Senior Amateur Championship begins at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. The leaders tee off at 1:40 p.m.

  Chylinski bogeyed his final three holes of the front nine to go out in 4-over-par 38, but answered those troubles with a trio of birdies on his inward side to finish with a 3-under-par 33 on the back nine and a total of 71.

  David Brookreson of Huntingdon Valley CC and Michael Dougherty of Huntingdon Valley CC are a shot back after carding 2-over-par 72s and Tom DiCinti of Little Mill CC and Mike Rose of Talamore at Oak Terrace CC, the 2003 Senior Amateur Champion, are two strokes behind. In all, a total of 13 players are within five strokes of the leader.

  “My goal today was to play holes Nos. 4-9 well and then be a little more aggressive after that. I didn’t [play those early holes well], unfortunately, but I actually was hitting the ball well. I just missed a couple of putts and didn’t get up and down on a few holes,” said Chylinski. “I started to make some putts on the back nine and that was the difference.”

  Chylinski opened his backside with a birdie on No. 10 (par 5, 469 yards) after a nice up-and-down from a tree bank to the right of the green. He followed by draining an uphill 12-footer for four on the treacherous 13th hole (par 5, 546 yards) and then added a birdie on the short 15th hole (par 4, 297 yards) when he knocked a rescue wood/lob wedge to 10 feet.

  It’s been a good run for Chylinski, 55, of Gulph Mills, Pa., recently. He qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship two weeks ago and also captured both the Club Championship and Senior Club Championship at Chester Valley GC. The U.S. Senior Amateur will be Chylinski’s first USGA event since he qualified for the U.S. Junior Boys’ Championship back in 1966.

  Brooreson, the reigning Senior Player of the Year and Senior Silver Cross Award winner, carded three bogeys and a birdie en route to a 72.

  “I held it together. I had a lot of troubling judging the speed of the greens,” said Brookreson, 57, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa. “I didn’t hit the ball that pure.”

  Brookreson is coming off a victory in the North-South Senior Amateur at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club course Nos. 2, 5 and 8, recently. He took the championship by six strokes.

  Dougherty carded two bogeys and a birdie on each side to finish a shot back of the leader.

  All three players are searching for their first Senior Amateur Championship title.

  The two rounds of the Senior Amateur Championship complete the Senior Silver Cross Award as well. The Senior Silver Cross is awarded to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the Warner Cup, Chapman Cup and Senior Amateur Championship rounds.

  Currently, Brookreson holds a two-stroke advantage over Frank McFadden of Overbrook GC.