Chris Killmer, who graduated from the University of Washington in the summer, shot a three-under-par 69 yesterday to lead after the first round of the Bellingham Amateur at Lake Padden. The winner of the 2008 Husky Invitational at Gold Mountain and a member of the UW team that romped to an 18-shot victory at the 2009 Pac-10 Championship at Seattle GC, Killmer shot halves of 35 and 34 to establish a one-stroke lead over playing partner Matt Cowell.
Third after a 71 is Mark Heinrich, while Bob Shannon and Kung Chih Chung round out the top five on 72.
By the time I arrived at the course Killmer had left, but I saw Matt Cowell who seemed fairly content with his two-under 70. 'I didn't get much going,' he said. 'But I'm still in it. It's a 54-hole tournament so there's a long way to go.'
The 105-man field includes an impressive 11 players with 0.0 handicap indexes.
For first-round scores, click here.
Just a reminder that North Bellingham and Lake Padden are participating in Patriot Golf Day this year. Play today or tomorrow and make a minimum $1 donation to the Folds of Honor Foundation which funds scholarships for children and spouses of military personnel killed or disabled on the battlefield.
