79th Annual SCGA Amateur Championship
Columbia Country Club
Blythewood, SC
August 5-8, 2010

Wesley Bryan Takes Early Lead

University of South Carolina golfer, Wesley Bryan, shot a four under par 67 to take the first round lead at the SCGA’s 79th Annual Amateur Championship being held at Columbia Country Club. Three players, including the 2008 Amateur Champion Lee Palms, are one shot behind at 68.

Starting on hole #10, the 20 year old Wesley Bryan birdied four of the first six holes he played. A bogey on the 449 yard 16th hole led to a 33 on his first nine. A steady dose of pars along with two birdies and a bogey on the back nine gave the Gamecock golfer a slim one shot lead with a total of 67.

Close on Bryan’s heels are Austin Reeves, Lee Palms, both of Greenville and Seneca’s Drew Ernst. The 41 year old Lee Palms is the most recent non collegian Champion to be playing in this year’s field. Palms captured the 2008 Championship at Musgrove Mill in Clinton, S.C.

In total, eleven players managed to break par at the tough Columbia Country Club layout. Fast greens, thick rough, high temperatures and a 40 minute lightning delay made par for most players a struggle.

The 2010 SCGA Amateur Championship is being conducted on the par 71 – 7,133 yard Ellis Maples designed course at Columbia Country Club in Blythewood, SC. The event began with a field of 135 players and will be cut to the low 70 and ties following the first two rounds of play. The Amateur Championship is one of 19 Major Championships run by the South Carolina Golf Association and is in its 79th year of existence.