Two share State Amateur lead

Johnny Decker of Middleton and Thomas Longbella of Chippewa Falls shot 6-under-par 66s on Monday to lead an assault on par in the first round of the 117th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship.

Twenty players in the field of 162 broke par at 6,758-yard Minocqua Country Club, a tree-lined private club known for its immaculate conditioning.

“Everybody loves this golf course,” said Bill Linneman, director of rules and competitions for the Wisconsin State Golf Association. “It is just fantastic, but it’s only 6,700 yards and these kids hit it a mile.”

Decker, who stepped away from competitive golf at the University of Wisconsin two years ago and joked that he had practiced a total of “two hours” since, nearly chipped in for an eagle on the first hole and eagled the ninth.

“It’s a little surprising,” Decker told Wisconsin.golf. “I haven’t played as much competitive golf recently and haven’t practiced as much as I used to.”

Longbella, a member of the University of Minnesota golf team, had seven birdies and a lone bogey on his score card.

Ryan Isaacson of Eau Claire and Sam Anderson of Stoughton fired 67s and were one stroke off the lead going into the second round Tuesday. Isaacson, whose round was bogey-free, played college golf at UW-Eau Claire. Anderson is a member of the UW golf team.

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Burlington native Tony Romo opened with a 3-over 75.

This is Romo’s first appearance in the State Amateur. He was granted a special exemption by the WSGA.

Among those on the first page of the leader board were Hunter Eichhorn of Carney, Mich., who won the Big East Conference title as a freshman at MU, and Harrison Ott of Brookfield, a member of the Vanderbilt golf team. Both shot 69s.

Matthew Bachmann of Sheboygan Falls, who won the 2017 Big East title as a freshman at MU, shot a 70.