Chuck Jabaley came within three inches of breaking the course record at the Cleveland Golf and Country Club on Saturday.
Jabaley missed a three-inch birdie putt on No. 18, but still tied the course record with a 9-under 63 and took the first-round lead in the Cleveland Invitational.
"It was a great round,'' Cleveland head pro Lamar Mills said.
Jabaley, a 54-year-old Cleveland native who won the 1994 Tennessee Open, leads Cleveland's Aon Smith and UTC golfer Thomas Smith by six strokes.
On a day when Jabaley was 9-under, only eight other players were under par.
A member at the Cleveland Country Club, Jabaley already shared the course record with Jim Scott.
The 30-33--63 gave Jabaley a six-shot lead in the two-day tournament, held for the first time at the Cleveland Golf and Country Club. It had been held in previous years at Rolling Hills.
Jabaley had birdies at Nos. 1, 2, 5, 9 and 13. He made eagles on Nos. 5 and 14.
Jabaley capped off his record round with his second eagle, at the par-5 14th. He hit a 3-wood to about 15 feet and made the putt.
"The short game is generally the key for me,” Jabaley said. “And today, I made a lot of putts.”
Despite the 63, Jabaley, who had knee replacement surgery, said he wasn't back to his old form.
“You can’t do that after one round,” Jabaley said. “But maybe I’m starting to get away from some bad habits a little bit. I turn 55 next year, and maybe I’ll start playing a little more, if I can play more consistently. Golf is a lot more fun that way.”
Individual Scores
Championship Flight
Player Name Score Rank
Jabaley, Chuck 63 1
Miller, Aon 69 2
Smith, Thomas 69 2
Coley, Josh 70 4
Baldwin, Jerod 70 4
Mathis, Matt 70 4
Schreiner, Tom 70 4
Pate, Ryan 71 8
Davis, Joe 71 8
Law, Kevin 72 10
Lawwill, Stew. 72 10
Barrett, Keith 72 10
Burns, Gerald 72 10
Floyd, Charles 72 10
Robertson, Matt 73 15
Hollowell, Fr. 73 15
Lowden, Ken 73 15
Watkins, Jimmy 74 18
Webster, Pete 74 18
Meilstrup, Russ 74 18
Privette, Greg 74 18
Mitchell, Adam 74 18
Jenkins, Mike 75 23
Lowery, Ronald 75 23
McCutchan, Phi. 75 23
Goza, Jay 75 23
Lawson, Josh 75 23
Jenne, Matt 75 23
Rogers, Michael 75 23
First Flight
Player Name Score Rank
Cothran, Kyle 76 1
Moore, Brandon 76 1
Burkhart, Todd 76 1
Green, Tony 77 4
Baird, Tom 77 4
Keene, Richard 77 4
Williams, Andy 77 4
Marcrom, Pat 77 4
Rice, Jason 77 4
Blakely, Nick 77 4
Woodard, Jason 78 11
Horn, Tim 78 11
Douglas, Bret 78 11
Painter, Robert 78 11
Cooper, Rem 78 11
Rackley, Wes 78 11
Cooper, Sam 79 17
Bedwell, Sam 79 17
Guerry, Jeff 80 19
Nance, Scott 80 19
Lang, David 80 19
Myers, Nathan 80 19
Brantley, Wayne 80 19
Shippey, Mich. 80 19
Sutton, Scott 80 19
Scruggs, Joe 80 19
Brown, Daniel 80 19
Bridges, Mike 80 19
Farnsworth, C. 81 29
Marshall, Andy 81 29
Usery, Mike 81 29
Schreiner, Jim 81 29
Second Flight
Player Name Score Rank
Degler, Mark 82 1
Mixson, Mike 82 1
Darr, Doug 83 3
Brown, Joe 83 3
Crabtree, Tony 83 3
Farnsworth, Bob 84 6
Allen, Vestal 84 6
Johnson, Ronnie 84 6
Kopet, Brian 84 6
Walker, David 84 6
Lemons, Mark 85 11
Bush, Craig 85 11
Matheney, David 85 11
Hannah, Jim 85 11
Johnston, Bar. 85 11
Sanko, Jim 86 16
Wilkins, John 86 16
Bower, Stacey 87 18
Taylor, Mike 87 18
Cantelmo, Aj 87 18
Caplenor, Jeff 88 21
Gante, G.T. 88 21
Mattice Jr., Sc 88 21
Fletcher, Jeff 88 21
Miller, Doug 89 25
Raper, Kevin 89 25
Hensley, Ross 101 27
Rungruang, Ryan 107 28
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)