Saturday is considered moving day in professional golf tournaments, and two players used it to move up the leaderboard in the second round of the Navajo Trail Open.
Connor Jones and Dylan Healey took advantage of the pros playing in the morning on the pure greens and ideal conditions at Hillcrest Golf Club in Durango. Jones shot 6-under par to take the tournament lead at 8-under par. Healey bounced back from an even par Friday to shoot 7-under par to be one shot back of Jones.
Behind those two is a four-way tie for third at 3-under par. Golfers were treated to another beautiful day with warm temperatures.
Jones finished his second round with eight birdies, eight pars and two bogeys.
“I got off to a real good start,” Jones said. “I birdied the first three holes, and then kept it going all day. I was hitting it really good, and left a few out there with the greens, three putted a couple times. I had a lot of looks.”
Teeing off in the morning made the course a lot easier, according to Jones, and the wind didn’t pick up until the back nine. He birdied four out of his first five holes, with the lone misstep a three-putt bogey on Hole 13. He birdied the par-5 17th, Hole 2, Hole 3, Hole 6 and then he three putted the par-4 eighth for bogey.
Up one stroke with $10,000 on the line, Jones said he feels comfortable in the lead and he was planning on working on the speed of his putts before the final round.
Healey, from Tucson, Arizona, had a double bogey on Friday, which didn’t help his scoring. He came out scorching on Saturday as the pros started their rounds on the back nine. Healey birdied the par-5 10th, the par-4 11th, the par-3 12th and the par-4 13th to begin his round. He cooled off with three consecutive pars before an impressive eagle on the par-5 17th to shoot 6-under on his opening nine.
The former Korn Ferry Tour player also birdied the par 5 third and the par 4 eight before bogeying the tricky par 3 ninth.
Farmington’s Tony Mike Jr. had a quality second round, finishing at 2-under par to get to 3-under par for the tournament. Mike had a nice birdie on the short par-4 11th, before a tough double bogey at 17. He bounced back on the front nine with birdies on three, five, seven and eight, with the only blemish on the front a bogey on the par-4 sixth.
Wil Collins is also at 3-under par for the tournament after an even par round on Saturday. Collins had an up and down round with five birdies, eight pars and five bogeys.
Collins said he struggled to take advantage of the perfect conditions in the morning, and he started pressing, leading to what he called “mental torture” for 5.5 hours.
“I didn’t get much out of it today … My short game was poor with two for 10 on up and downs,” Collins said. “The short game has been kind of rough this week, but I’m still under par for the week, and I have a chance to go out and post a good number tomorrow.”
Also at 3-under par is Brad Marek after shooting 1-under par on Saturday with three birdies, 13 pars and two bogeys.
Joe Baldeck III is also tied for third at 3-under par after shooting 4-under par on Saturday. Baldeck is based out of Austin and works at Spanish Oaks Golf Club. He heard about the tournament from his friend, Ryan Hodge, who’s the Director of Golf at Glacier Club. Baldeck played in it last year and knew he had to come back.
“I’m feeling good,” Baldeck said. “I got off to a hot start birding the first three, that definitely helped. I played pretty good on the back, and then the wind started picking up, and I was hitting good shots, just being in the right spot, it seemed like today for the most part.”
Baldeck was happy with his distance control on Saturday, especially hitting into the challenging Hillcrest greens. He’s looking forward to teeing it up on Sunday and is happy to be here, so he isn’t too concerned with the final result.
Farmington’s River Smalley shot 1-over par on Saturday with three birdies, 11 pars and four bogeys to go into Sunday tied-seventh at 2-under par. Cortez’s Micah Rudosky finished his round on Saturday at 4-over par and is 3-over par for the tournament.
Charles Dawkins continues to lead the amateur field’s net standings at 2-over par for the tournament, while Fort Lewis College’s Traejan Andrews leads the gross amateur standings in the championship flight at 3-under par.
It’s not often a hole-in-one happens on any golf course, let alone in tournament play, But that’s what happened on Saturday with Annie Yost. The former Piedra Vista High School star and current Division I golfer at Florida Gulf Coast University had her first ace on Hole 12 on Saturday. That shot helped her shoot 1-over par on Saturday.
Fans should be treated to some fantastic golf in the final group on Saturday. Collins, Mike, Healey and Jones will all tee off at 2:18 p.m. on Hole 1. To check out all of the tee times, click here.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
