Schwabe turns early start into first-round lead at Hawthorn Ridge Amateur

ALEDO -- Maybe the most important aspect of golfing on Saturday was playing early and getting off the course before the sun hid behind the clouds and the winds whipped up.

Steve Schwabe did just that to get off to a great start in the Hawthorn Ridge Amateur. The Rock Islander fired a 1-under par 71 at Hawthorn Ridge Golf Club in the 2005 season debut event on the National City Bank Amateur Tour.

Playing early with Schwabe was Mark Drenth, who carded a 37-36--73. That foursome, because of other Saturday commitments, teed off about 45 minutes before the regular tee times for the good-sized field of 81 players -- that sported plenty of wind apparel and even some stocking caps.

"I certainly wouldn't ask for anything special," said Schwabe, who was trying to accommodate the tournament around his daughter's dance recital early in the afternoon. "There was already a threesome signed up and I just joined them. ... I was 0-for-3 and didn't want to go 0-for-4; I had missed three of her recitals and didn't want to miss this one, too."

That solid early play left Schwabe and Drenth playing late today as they posted Saturday's best two scores. As the leaders, along with Brian Hall (38-38--76) and Brian Soucinek (37-38--75) they will be in the final group in today's final round, going off today at 12:40 p.m.

In the open division playing from the back tees, there were just 13 rounds in the 70s as winds blew up to 40 miles per hour and temps hovered around 60.

Schwabe's day started inauspiciously with bogeys on the first two holes that resulted from wayward tee shots. But he came right back with birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 to finish the front side at even-par 36. Schwabe said a 60-yard sand wedge set up a 3-foot birdie putt on the 343-yard third and he rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fourth.

The steady Schwabe, who was leading the Player of the Year race much of the 2004 season, added a birdie on the par-5 15th to go with eight back-nine pars.

"I scored good, but I didn't hit the ball well at all," said Schwabe in a late-afternoon phone conversation. "The wind was blowing hard for us, too. It was a two- or three-club wind for us, but it sounds like it's blowing harder (late). ... I made every three- and four-foot putt I had and that was the difference."

Par Saturday was probably pushing 76, according to those finishing late in the afternoon and playing their entire rounds in the most blustery of conditions.

"Anybody shooting 74 to 78 is a pretty good score," said Soucinek, two-time Player of the Year who carded an afternoon 75 and had nothing but praise for Schwabe's solid score. "Hey, 71 is 71. He played in the wind, too."

Still, Schwabe, almost apologetic for the early tee time, knows he's going to have to play better tee-to-green today to stay atop the field.

"I just have to be more solid all the way around," said Schwabe, surprised by the fact that he was still leading. "I figured there would be at least two guys go lower."

No. Everybody else's scores were left blowing in the wind. And blowing up.