TWIN FALLS, Idaho – The first day of the 2018 Idaho State Amateur proved to be a tough test for the state’s top players. Colby Dean of Eagle, ID leads the field with a 7-under 65. Trailing in second place are Meridian’s Hunter Ostrom and Chris Carew, who each dropped a score of 2-under 70. Jason Huff from Moscow, at 1-under, was the only other player under par at Canyon Springs Golf Course in Twin Falls.
Dean, a recent graduate of Chico State University, played with impressive consistency. A bogey free round with 7 birdies puts Dean 5 strokes free of second place. “I was pretty good tee to green, and I didn’t leave myself with any stressful putts,” he said after the round.
Ostrom will be a junior at Notre Dame in the fall, and is already a 2018 IGA championship winner at the Four-Ball. He went eagle, birdie, birdie on holes 14, 15, and 16 to get to 2-under. Carew, a high school teammate of Dean at Eagle High School, played his way into second place by only making 2 bogeys with 4 birdies. Huff is a former University of Idaho golfer who stayed in contention by staying away from any high numbers and balanced bogeys with birdies, much like Carew.
A few of the expected leaders going into Friday’s first round played well enough to stay in contention, but they’ll need low rounds on the weekend barring a major collapse by the front of the pack.
Saturday’s second round is predicted to be affected by strong wind gusts, so it might not be surprising to see results higher than the first round stroke average of 76.92.