Hawley, Sykora fire “Grande” 63’s to take first round Nevele lead

            Ellenville, NY-Shannon Sykora and Scott Hawley shot matching rounds of 7-under par 63’s and sit atop the early leaderboard after the first round lead of the inaugural Nevele Grande Open. Veteran Geoff Sisk came in at 6-under par 64 while Sean O’Hair posted a 4-under par 66 effort. Corey Harris carded a 3-under par 67 and rounds out the top five.

            “It was pretty consistent throughout the day,” said Hawley, who scorched the front nine in 5-under par 30 en route to assuming a share of the opening round lead. On the day, the Shrewsbury resident notched eight birdies against a lone bogey. Afterward, he credited much of his success to the smooth conditions of the greens. “You make a good stroke and it is going to go,” said Hawley.

            Sykora, contrarily, manufactured his own 63 on the strength of some amazing play on the back nine. One-under par after nine, he began the backside with two birdies, an eagle on the par 5, 12^th hole and then added two more birdies on the 13^th and 14^th holes. Four pars later, he registered a 6-under par 29 on the inward half and his second 63 in eight days, dating back to the second round of last week’s event.

            “I did not short side myself at all,” said Sisk, whose round was buoyed when he holed his approach shot with a seven iron for an eagle on the par 4, 17^th hole.

            Sean O’Hair, fresh off of his victory in last week’s Sterling Open, kept his momentum going with a 66 that included five birdies. Already three shots back after round one, O’Hair is expecting to have to take it even lower over the final two rounds in order to catch the leaders. “They’re not the type of players to come back to the field,” said the current Cleveland Golf Tour money leader. “They’re going to be there all three days,” O’Hair said of the first round frontrunners.

            Aaron Flink, a rookie on the Cleveland circuit, posted a season low 2-under par 68 and stands tied for 5^th with a pack of players, including Nevele Grande Assistant Professional Noah Zelnik.

            Nevele Grande Resort & Country Club is one of five new venues on this year’s schedule. Other new stops include Vermont National, LeBaron Hills, Sterling and Pautipaug.

            Only the top 33 competitors and ties will advance to Friday’s final round. This week’s purse of $73,000 is the highest in Cleveland Golf Tour history, as is the winner’s share of $12,700.