Foster, Wilkes out front at Northwood
By By Will Bardwell/staff writer
September 14, 2003
Dennis Foster and Les Wilkes shot a six-under 65 on Saturday to move to the top of the leaderboard at the Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball tournament at Northwood Country Club.
After posting a 71 in the tournament's first round on Friday, the team of Foster and Wilkes stormed back from 12th place with four birdies on the first six holes.
Three more birdies on the back nine, including two in a row on the 12th and 13th holes, briefly put the pair at seven-under for the tournament, but a bogey on the 17th hole and a par on the 18th kept them only a stroke ahead of second place.
Still, their 65 was the low score of the tournament after the first two rounds.
The field consists of 41 total teams, six of which are competing in the super senior division. The senior division is open to golfers of age 50 or higher, and super seniors have to be at least 60 to qualify.
Willie Frazier and Robert Espey, whose team was tied for first place after a 66 on Friday, fell into second place with a second-round 71. Frazier led the team with birdies on the third, 14th, and 17th holes, but the pair's three bogeys kept them at even par for the round.
Sidney Bowers and Randy Pool, as well as Jimmy Hoppen and Mike Herrington, were also tied for the lead after the first round. Second round scores of one-over 72 left both teams two strokes behind the leaders.
Rains hit the course at about 1:30 p.m. and lasted for nearly two hours, but play was never suspended. Since the first round's top scorers teed off first on Saturday, most of the leaders were off the course before rain began.
Still, only a dozen or so of the field's teams were finished with their round when the storm arrived.
The tournament is being played under a four-ball format, in which each golfer in a team plays his own ball through the end of the hole. The better of the two scores is the team's score for that hole.
Golfers are teeing off from the Northwood course's championship tees, making the course just under 6,200 yards.
