Lebow , a plus .6 handicapper from Spring Ford CC, carded five birdies in a bogey-free, 5-under-par round at the club’s par 72, 7,146-yard Militia Hill Course.
He was trailed by Scott Storck of the host club and Sean Seese of Huntingdon Valley CC. Storck carded a 4-under-par 67 and Seese a 3-under-68, both at the club’s par 71, 6,836-yard Wissahickon Course.
“I just didn’t hit many bad shots,” Lebow said. “Actually, I hit no bad shots. I was just trying to get the ball on the green and kept striping it at the pin. It was just a good, even competitive round.”
It could have been even better. “I missed three or four birdie putts inside 10-15 feet,” he said. “The greens were hard to read.”
Storck, a 2-handicapper, birdied Nos. 17 and 18 and recorded only 26 putts for a 67 at the Wissahickon Course. “It was the best tournament round in my life,” he said, and the best round he’d ever posted at the Cricket Club.
He bettered his qualifying score of 79 at Coatesville CC by 12 strokes. “I just hit a lot of really good shots, made a lot of putts and had a lot of fun,” he said, after draining a 70-footer from the fringe on the 483-yard, par 4 18th for a 3.
He also birdied 17 after a drive went well left and a pitch through a stand of trees that bounced to within 2 feet.
Seese, a plus 2 handicap at Huntingdon Valley CC, was hot early, at 6 under after he holed a 131-yard 9-iron for an eagle three at the 528-yard, par 5 12th hole. But he double-bogeyed 16, a 406 yard, par 4, after missing the green long, and bogeyed the 411 yard, par 4 17th after missing the green again and lipping out an 18-foot par putt.
In concurrent qualifying competition for the GAP Open Championship, Seese led early finishers with his 68.
The 132 players are vying over 36 holes for 31 spots in the match play Amateur Championship, which begins on Tuesday at the Cricket Club, along with defending champion Michael Tash of Tavistock CC.
Match play will be conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 15-16, with the 36-hole final set for Saturday, June 19.
Also at stake in today’s qualifying rounds are 10 spots in the Open Championship, to be held July 16 at Huntingdon Valley CC, won last year by Brian Kelly, head golf professional at Bucknell GC.
