Ethan Day took advantage his local knowledge of playing on his home course Saturday to grab the first-round lead of the North Georgia Invitational hosted at Dalton Golf and Country Club.
Day, who played collegiately at the University of North Georgia, used a streak of three straight birdies starting on No. 13 to spark a strong finish to close with a 4-under 68 to pace the Championship Flight.
Sitting three strokes back in a tie for second are Garrison Hogan and David Noll at 1-under 71.
A trio of golfers – Samuel Johnson, Hayden Maxwell and Keoni Vidrine – are tied for fourth after carding 1-over 73, one shot better than Wes Farris, Seth Brandon and Vance Embry who all finished their day at 2-over 74.
Landon Wells set the pace in the Championship A Flight at 1-over 73, followed by Cody Godfrey at 2-over 74 and Brandon Cissom at 3-over 75. Toby Geren posted a 1-under 71 to lead the Championship B Flight, three shots better than Lucas Nations who shot 2-over 74.
Other flight leaders are Greg Waters at 2-over 74 in Championship C, Brandon Kimmerling at 5-over 77 in Championship D, while Adrian Patino and Kaleb Hill share the top spot in Championship E at 6-over 78.
Hal Lamb of The Farm Golf Club was the lone golfer under par in the Senior Championship Flight after recording a 4-under 68. Richard Keene and Donny Phillips are tied for second after rounds of 1-over 73, five shots off the lead.
Terry Mitchell’s 5-over 77 leads the Senior Championship Flight A.
In the Super Senior competition, Tom Baird’s 2-under 70 leads by three over Richard Brame, who finished at 1-over 73.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com