The Back Nine - Twin Oaks Country Club Hosts Missouri Amateur Championship

First Round Underway at 2010 Missouri Amateur Championship

Updated: Tue 6/22/2010 10:10 pm

Springfield, MO - Twin Oaks CC - It's the beginning of one of the longest weeks of the season but at the end is a trophy and chance to join the greats in Missouri Amateur golf history.

It's the 2010 Missouri Amateur Championship, the 103rd playing of this historic championship. Past Champions like Tom Watson, Jim Colbert, Jim Jackson, Don Bliss, Jim Holtgrieve have earned the right to have their name etched in Missouri Amateur history. So too have several players in the field this week, such as Skip Berkmeyer, Chuck Greene, Ben Godwin, Connor McHenry and Justin Bardgett.

It's a test a physical strength, golf aptitude and mental discipline. This week requires patience and timely shot making, not to mention an occasional big putt every now and then. And it begins today at Twin Oaks Country Club in Springfield, MO.

Twin Oaks CC has hosted three previous Missouri Amateur Championships and claims some of Missouri's elite champions as past champions at Twin Oaks. Tom Watson won at Twin Oaks in 1970, his 3rd of four Amateur titles. Don Walsworth won in 1985 and Michael Letzig, currently on the PGA Tour, won in 2002. So who will it be this week to win this marathon we know as the Missouri Amateur Championship?

While it's not how you start, but how you finish, it's always nice to get begin your week on the right track and that's exactly what past Missouri Amateur Champion, Connor McHenry and University of Missouri golfer, William Harrold did on Tuesday. Both players posted 5-under par, 66's in their first of two stroke play qualifying rounds. The low 64 of the over 160 players will advance to Match Play beginning on Thursday morning.

Others off to a fast start include Andy Hogenmiller, college golfer at Missouri Southern and Washington, MO native. Hogemiller made a deep run in last year's Missouri Amateur Championship and is starting his week nicely with a 3-under par, 68 in his first round.

To follow the live scoring throughout the week, visit http://www.ghintpp.com/MOGOLF/TPPOnlineScoring/Results.aspx?id=5&archive=Stroke or if you are a Twitter user, check out #MOAM posts and you'll have up to the minute news from Twin Oaks Country Club.