Carolinas Golf Association

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. —Salisbury’s Eric Edwards fired an opening-round 4-under par 68 and is tied for fourth in the 103^rd Carolinas Amateur Championship at The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek.

The event, conducted by the Carolinas Golf Association, began on Thursday and it was a good day to be a reigning CGA champion.

The top three spots are held by 2017 CGA championship winners. The lowest round was posted by 21-year-old Julian Keur, of Summerville, S.C. Keur posted a sensational 7-under 65, just one shot shy of the course record set by PGA Tour player Russell Henley.

Edwards, a rising senior at George Mason University, played the par 3s very well on Thursday, with three of his five birdies coming on those holes. He had a par on the other par 3.

Edwards shot a 4-under par 32 on the front nine. He is tied with three other golfers for fourth, three shots behind Keur.

Starting on No. 10, Keur — who captured his first CGA title last month at the South Carolina Amateur Match Play — opened his round with six birdies in an eight-hole stretch on Briar’s Creek’s back nine.

“I was on cruise control there for a little bit,” Keur said after the round. “I was able to get at most of the pins and made 5 to 6-foot birdie putts.”

On the 205-yard par-3 17th, Keur rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt. “I thought it left it short,” said Keur, a rising senior at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. “But these greens are in such good shape it just kept rolling and rolling and I was fortunate enough for it to go in.”

With back-to-back birdies on the first two holes of his inward nine, Keur reached 8-under-par and talk began of a new course record. However, a wayward drive on the par-5 5th led to his only bogey. Four finishing pars capped Keur’s 65, good for a one-stroke lead. “It’s always good to start off low, but I know I’ve still got three rounds to go, there’s a lot of golf to be played,” he added.

Edwards, a rising senior at George Mason University, played the par 3s very well on Thursday, with three of his five birdies coming on those holes. He had a par on the other par 3.

Edwards shot a 4-under par 32 on the front nine. He is tied with three other golfers for fourth, three shots behind Keur.

John Eades, of Charlotte, is in second place after carding a 6-under par 66. Ryan Marter, 18, of Columbia, S.C., sits in third place at 5-under (67).

Three consecutive birdies on holes 3, 4, and 5 kick-started Eades’ round. “It’s a long tournament, you try to find stretches where you can make a few birdies in a row to propel you through the round.” The 34-year-old Eades added four more birdies with just one bogey to finish the first round alone in second place.

The championship is a four-day event. After 36 holes, there will be a cut to the low 60 scores and ties. Entry is open to any male amateur golfer who has reached his 13th birthday by the first day of the championship, is a legal resident of North Carolina or South Carolina, is a member in good standing of a club which is a member of the CGA and has an active GHIN USGA Handicap Index at a CGA member club that does not exceed 7.4.

***

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Logan Shuping, of Salisbury, shot a 2-under par 68 at The Eastern Amateur at Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club on Thursday.

Shuping, a sophomore at East Carolina and a former standout at East Rowan High School, is tied for 18th place — out of 168 golfers. He had four birdies and 12 pars during his first round yesterday.

J.B. Williams, of Danville, Ky., blistered the course with an 8-under par 62 and holds a two-stroke lead over Ben Reichert, of East Tennessee State, and Myles Creighton, who plays at Radford.

The four-round event resumes today. The field will be cut to the low 80 players and ties after today’s second round.