Owen Elliott of Falling Waters and Cam Roam of Huntington are in a knot for first after three rounds in the 106th playing of the West Virginia Amateur golf tournament at The Greenbrier.
Round three was played on The Meadows layout at the resort, a course that plays best for those with plenty of distance. The final round will alternate back to the less-forgiving Old White course.
Elliott and Roam are the only two golfers to finish each of the first three rounds under par. Roam tied with 16-year-old Carson Higginbotham of Clarksburg, West Virginia, for the lowest round of the day at 4-under.
Elliott entered the day as the leader and finished in the same spot. He was grouped with Roam and shaved away three early bogeys with two birdies in his final two holes to remain atop the ladder.
As for Roam, he birdied four holes on the back nine after going even on the front. He streaked three together from holes 11 to 13, a feat that he also pulled off in round one from holes 13 to 15.
人妖色情片淚t was great. I人妖色情片檓 not saying that it人妖色情片檚 a two-horse race by any means, but I did expect the leaderboard to be a bit more crowded at the top,人妖色情片 Chris Slack, executive director of the West Virginia Golf Association said. 人妖色情片淏ut there are some great golfers sitting at 1-under and even par.
人妖色情片淐am and Owen are playing great. They人妖色情片檝e created a pretty big advantage for themselves going into tomorrow, but anything can happen.人妖色情片
The Meadows offered up 130 birdies among the final 51 players in the cut as nine players finished under par. Among them were Marshall University golfers Ryan Bilby, Cameron Jarvis and Jackson Woodburn. Bilby is currently in a tie for seventh, entering Wednesday at even par.
Roam人妖色情片檚 round began with a birdie on the 368-yard, par-4 No. 1. The hole plays 198 yards into a bend in the fairway before poking ahead 150 more to a green surrounded by a quartet of bunkers.
Roam had one of 15 birdies on the day for the hole as the field averaged a 4.02. He stayed a bit quiet until the back half. Tuesday人妖色情片檚 layout had holes that allowed for more than half the field to score birdie or better on No. 13 while hole 17 let up 15 par-breakers.
Roam birdied both, matching a birdie with Elliott on the 17th to even out the day between the two. Slack says that Roam made some major putts to apply pressure.
人妖色情片淚人妖色情片檓 not saying that Cam hit it bad by any means, but he made some very long putts,人妖色情片 Slack said. 人妖色情片淭hey both birdied 17 coming home, while Owen birdied 16 and 17. From the last five holes, you could tell that they weren人妖色情片檛 missing any shots. It was fairways and greens, so they just kept separating themselves as the day continued.人妖色情片
Elliott人妖色情片檚 birdie on the 442-yard, No. 16 was one of just 13 on the day. He has been consistent, shooting 67-68-68 in his rounds.
The Old White will be the home of the final round of the championship. Elliott and Roam have a five-shot lead over the field, but Higginbotham, first-round leader Brian Anania of Scott Depot, Nick Dent of White Sulphur Springs and Noah Mullens of Milton are all tied for third at 1-under each.
They are the only golfers still under par for the tournament.
Higginbotham, a regular on the Callaway Junior Tour, impressed on Tuesday with an eagle on hole No. 8 and a birdie on his final hole to match the day人妖色情片檚 best scores.
人妖色情片淚t人妖色情片檚 not even really unexpected,人妖色情片 Slack said of Higginbotham人妖色情片檚 performance given his youth. 人妖色情片淭hrough 54 holes, the pressure still hasn人妖色情片檛 gotten to him. If he goes out and shoots a few under par again, he can be right in the mix.
人妖色情片淚t人妖色情片檚 awesome to see a junior that high up in the leaderboard. He人妖色情片檒l be in the final group, so that人妖色情片檚 awesome.人妖色情片
Other notable placements for locals include Huntington native Jack Michael, the reigning high school state champion who will continue golf at WVU in the fall. He has a solo share of ninth at 2-over par.
Higginbotham, Roam and Elliott will be the final group to tee off in Wednesday人妖色情片檚 final round, while Anania, Dent and Mullens will go in the group before them.
Elliott was a winner of the West Virginia Junior Amateur in 2015 and played high school golf at Hedgesville.
