Amid the whipping wind they found in the desert on Wednesday, two men from the East Coast fought their way to the lead at the Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown. After a tough opening day at Paiute Resort’s Snow Mountain course in Las Vegas, Doug Stiles of Athens, Georgia, and Matthew Avril of Vero Beach, Florida, share the lead in the Senior division.
Across all four divisions, scores soared in the opening round. The field averaged 84.9 for the opening 18 holes as the wind blew 25-40 mph and the day began at a crisp 40 degrees.
Stiles and Avril both landed at 8-over 80 for the day. Avril didn’t make a birdie, and while Stiles made two, he also had a couple of big numbers on his card. Still, both men made the most of the day and managed to take a one-shot advantage on five players tied for third at 9 over.
Scores: Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown
Among the big group at 9 over is Brady Exber, who is teeing it up this week in his Las Vegas hometown after captaining the West team to victory at the East West Matches at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, last week.
In the Super Senior division, it isn’t all the surprising that Kevin Belknap from Wichita, Kansas, leads the pack with a round of 7-over 79. Belknap, from the windy plains, fired one of just three rounds under 80 on Wednesday. He leads Stevie Cannady of Pooler, Georgia, by a shot. Cannady, who won the Golfweek Super Senior National Championship in July, birdied the 11th but double-bogeyed the 18th.
The two best scores of the day came from the Legends division, where Steve Cribari of La Quinta, California, and Neil Spitalny of Chattanooga, Tennessee posted rounds of 76 and 77, respectively.
Behind Cribari and Spitalny, the next-best score in the division came from Michael Paulsen of Fort Worth, Texas, who had 82.
In the Super Legends division, Greg Mokler of Timnath, Colorado, leads with 80. Steven Johnson of Las Vegas and Richard Hunt of Bixby, Oklahoma, are right behind him with rounds of 81.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown: The elements present a fierce test on opening day at Paiute
