Alex Goff (UK Athletics Photo)
Former Kentucky standout Alex Golf had an impressive showing in the opening round of the ISCO Championship Thursday at Keene Trace Golf Club.
Goff made five birdies and fired a 3-under-par 69. Goff, who won the 2020 Kentucky Amateur Championship, admitted there “were definitely some nerves to start,” but it didn’t show on the first seven holes. He began the round 4-under before “the driver kind of left me a little bit.”
“That’s definitely what I need to improve upon,” he said. “(I need to) go hit some balls and figure that out. It was solid. If I can hit more fairways tomorrow, I think I’ll play well.”
Goff had back-to-back bogeys later in the round, but bounced back and finished strong.
“(The bogeys) kind of calmed me down a little bit,” he said. “I was still a little amped up, then we’re good, got those out of the way and I was a lot more calm on the front nine. I missed a few opportunities on the front, but it was nice to have a clean card on the front nine and get it in.”
The first-round leader is former University of Texas golfer Pierceson Coody, who carded an 11-under 61 in the first round.
“I’ve been putting really nice all season,” he said. “It’s kind of a core set if you keep it in play, keep it in front of you, you have a lot of wedges, you end up with a lot of looks for birdie and it’s just one of those days that I saw a ton of putts go in.”
Coody made 20 putts and six consecutive birdies, both a career high.
“I’m trying to run my own race,” he said. “I didn’t start the season the way I wanted to obviously, it was really slow. I’ve had some tournaments where I’ve kind of flashed a little bit. I’m just trying to keep improving my form. I know we still have, including the fall, 10 events or so, so I’m just trying to run my own race and see where I end up at the end of the year.”
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The four-day event, formerly known as the Barbasol Championship, concludes on Sunday with the winner taking home a $4 million purse.
