Local golfer makes good is always an eye-catching headline. Western New York golf has reason to be proud of one of its own, as WNY-born, partly raised, and partly-lived-here Dudley Hart added a 65 to his opening 68, to share the 36-hole lead at LECOM with Hank Lebioda and 1st-round leader Sebastián Muñoz. Lebioda posted the same 2 scores as Hart to reach 133, while Muñoz added a 69 to his opening 64.
“I had a good start on the front,” the Rochester, New York, native commented. “At the risk of sounding like a jerk – my ball-striking is still a little bit shaky, believe it or not, but I got away with a couple of bad swings and with my putter I managed. I just tried to understand that a couple of shots, right now, I just don’t have them, so I’m not trying them … I’m happy where I’m at. Obviously, I’d like to hit the ball a little more solid – didn’t hit a lot of solid shots – but for the most part I controlled my accuracy somewhat.”
After a feisty front nine of 31, featuring 5 birdies, Hart added 2 more on the inward half, the last coming at the 17th hole. Lebioda was nearly the polar opposite to Hart. With bogeys at 2 of his first 3 holes on Friday, the cut line loomed for the long-hitting lefty. Birdie fever caught Lebioda, and he proceeded to make chirps at 9 of his next 15 holes. As for Muñoz, his front nine was kind of meh, with 1 birdie and 1 bogey to spice things up. An inward half of 3-under 33 returned him to the top of the leader board.
“I gave myself opportunities on it seems like just about every hole,” he remarked of his round, “and that’s all you can ask for … I’m pretty confident with my irons currently and I feel like, at least on the front nine, you have quite a few actual irons – you don’t have too many wedges into the greens – and I’m happy with how I’m hitting them to be honest with you. I’m giving myself looks, I’m staying patient and getting after the holes I can get after.”
“I like the spot I’m in now,” Lebioda said. “It’s not perfect, I think Sungjae Im is in the perfect spot, but nonetheless I’m in the top 25 [on the money list] and I feel like I haven’t changed what I’m doing. I’ve been building up this entire season and I’m excited. I’m excited about this weekend. I’m excited about the season.”
Among other golfers, co-first round leader Cameron Champ had 71 and sits 2 shots behind the top trio. He is tied with 2 other golfers for 5th spot. Trevor Cone resides alone in 4th spot, at -10. 72 golfers made the cut at -4, including former champion Kevin Stadler and special invitee Mike Van Sickle. 3rd round tee times can be CLICKED HERE and live scoring can be CLICKED HERE.
