Spartanburg, S.C. – While 2020 has ushered in many changes in the day-to-day life, the field for the Bobby Chaman Junior Invitational remained strong as 84 players arrived at the Country Club of Spartanburg. It would not take long for the elite players to surge to the top of the leaderboard and quickly move to red numbers as chilling temperatures greeted competitors in the opening round.
Fourteen players would post under par in round one as they were met with tucked hole locations and quick greens all while battling the elements. Allan Kournikova (Palm Beach, Florida) demonstrated consistency early in his round. With eight pars and a solo birdie, patience would serve Kournikova well on his front nine holes. He would remain steady and cap off a solid opening round with three birdies on his final five holes to cruise to a -4 under (67) and a share of the lead.
Joining Kournikova at the top and in the final pairing will be Georgia’s David Ford. Ford had an interesting day – notably jumping out early with a -4 under 31 on the front nine. He would then start a back-and-forth battle of bogies and birdies, ultimately carding an even par on his final nine to post an opening round -4 under (67). When asked about his approach to capture the champion’s title, Ford said “I want to keep everything the same. Get a good night sleep and then the goal is to get to -7 under, then -10 under, and then finally -12 under to give myself the best opportunity to secure the trophy.”
On the heels of Kournikova and Ford will be Kuangyu Chen (Bradenton, Florida) who will round out the featured pairing. Chen posted a -3 under (68) closing his round with three birdies on the final three holes to take the solo third place position.
The final round of the Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational will begin on holes 1 and 10 at 9AM. Spectators are welcome to attend the event and are encouraged to follow along through the Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational social media outlets (Facebook|Twitter|Instagram) and live scoring on the official tournament web-page by clicking the link below.
First Round co-leader Allan Kournikova watches his approach into Hole #1 
First Round co-leader David Ford eyes his tee shot on Hole #1
