LR’s Hickingbotham leads state amateur

HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — Barely out of the junior ranks, Little Rock’s Hunter Hickingbotham made bold strokes on state amateur golf’s biggest stage Thursday.

The 2017 Baptist Prep graduate shot a 65 for the first-round lead in the Arkansas State Golf Association Amateur Championship at DeSoto Country Club. Conway’s Carson Roberts is one stroke back in second while the group at 68 includes ASGA Hall of Famer and multiple winner Wes McNulty, of White Hall. Jonesboro’s Trent Jones (68) and Texarkana’s Chuck Gardner (69) also broke 70 in the first round of the 54-hole event, which offers 300 points to the winner in the ASGA player-of-the-year standings.

McNulty and Little Rock’s Nick Zimmerman (74) are tied for the POY lead with 290 points through a series of tournaments.

Two-time defending tournament champion Austin Eoff, of Benton, jeopardized his chances for a repeat with a 74. A fourtime NCAA All-American at Purdue and recently named assistant golf coach at Rutgers, Eoff won the 2015 state amateur in a playoff against Bryon Shumate and Seth Garner at the Country Club of Little Rock. He repeated last year at Hot Springs Country Club with a one-stroke decision over Dardanelle’s Kerry Lott and Hope’s Garrett May.

Lott (74) and Eoff are in the

12:24 p.m. group today off No.

1. Hickingbotham, Roberts and McNulty, teeing off at 1:30 p.m., comprise the final threesome.

Little Rock veteran Chris Jenkins, coming off an ASGA victory in his hometown at War Memorial Park, is one of three tied at 70. Shumate is tied at

71. Garner shot a 74 and former Lakeside High teammate Cameron McRae a 75.

Mark Graham, with a 72, led the mid-senior division by one stroke over Ryan Nye, both of Fort Smith, with defending champion Tracy Harris, of Little Rock, next at 76.

With a 68, Camden’s David Shirey led the senior division by three strokes over Jonesboro’s Thomas Duckworth and defending champion Ronny Ocker (Van Buren). Hot Springs’ Ronnie Johnson and Camden’s Mark Bradshaw are tied at 72, one stroke ahead of a group including Helena veteran Bev Hargraves and season points leader Fred Stamey (Hot Springs Village).

Clarksville’s Ken Golden topped the super-senior division with a 73, two strokes better than Sherwood’s Jim Smith. Defending champion Oscar Taylor (HSV) opened with a 79.

The tournament ends Saturday.