Austin Dobrescu carded one of the best rounds of golf ever seen in Estevan to take the first-round lead at the 2020 FrameTech Classic at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course.
Dobrescu fired a 9-under-par 63 in Saturday’s opening round to lead the tournament by six strokes over Estevan’s Jace Carlisle.
The 63 tied a course record set in 2015.
Dobrescu, who now resides in Manitoba, is a former Estevan resident who played in many junior tournaments at Woodlawn when he was younger. He carded four birdies on each of the front and the back nines on Saturday, and had an eagle on the par-5 18th. The only blemish on his scorecard was a bogey on the par-4 10th hole.
Three golfers are tied for third at 2-unde-par and four more are tied for sixth at 1-under. The top 12 golfers from Saturday’s play will be slotted into the annual Kudu Dave Price Memorial Horse Race Sunday afternoon. It’s an elimination event played on the back nine.
Spectators are asked not to attend this year’s Horse Race due to restrictions from COVID-19.
In the senior men’s division, Mike Ross was the first-round leader with a 4-under par 68. Rick Hallberg, who won the provincial senior men’s title earlier this week, was second with a 71 and Clark McClellland was third with a 74.
The second round for the men’s and senior men’s is slated for Sunday and then it will wrap up with the third round Monday.
In the women’s division, Bernadette Wright is the leader after shooting a 10-over-par 82 in the opening round. Tenille Wilhelm is second with an 86 and Lori Krupka is third with a 90.
The second and final round for the women will occur Sunday.
Nearly 120 golfers are entered in this year’s event.
The Mercury will have updates on the tournament throughout the weekend.
