Strong start for defending champion
McCarthy sets pace with 6-under 66 in first round of city tourney
Patrick McCarthy, the defending champion of the Greater Albuquerque City Golf Championship, has not played in a tournament since May 9 while competing for Missouri Western State University, an NCAA Division II squad.
But in the meantime the 20-year-old St. Pius High alumnus has been keeping his game sharp while working with former University of New Mexico standout and PGA Tour player Wil Collins, mostly on his short game and mental strength.
McCarthy displayed those attributes Friday while he shot 6-under-par 66 to take the lead in the championship flight after the first round at Ladera Golf Course in the 77th annual event, known as, “the City.”
“I was just confident,” said McCarthy, who collected six birdies, four on the back nine, dur-
ing his bogey-free round.
“I had a good start. I hit the ball well. I just rolled in a couple putts early and that gave me confidence going forward. I just took one shot at a time and didn’t get ahead of myself. I felt like I was relaxed the entire day, which is nice.”
McCarthy, who works at Arroyo del Oso, where Sunday’s final round will be played, said he entered the City with a great deal of confidence. That’s not just because he’s the defending champion. He felt that his work with Collins and his everyday training also had his game right and his mind in a good spot.
McCarthy believed it was his lowest score at Ladera.
The weather conditions were ideal, McCarthy said, as the temperature hovered in the high 80s with a light breeze.
“I just gotta take one shot a time (today),” said McCarthy, who won last year’s City by one stroke after shooting 10-under-par 206. “I can’t get ahead of myself. There are a lot of guys who can shoot very low. I have to keep within myself, just keep doing what I’m doing and I should be good.”
McCarthy birdied two par-5 holes, Nos. 6 and 17, both at 535 yards. His first birdie came on the par-3, 175-yard No. 5 hole.
Simon Miller, a New Mexico State and Albuquerque Academy alumnus, shot 3-under 69. Larry Amedio also shot a 69.
McCarthy’s group included Isaac Alderete, who plays for UNM, and Chandler Smith-Stetson, an Albuquerque Academy alumnus. Those two shot 2 under, as did UNM alum James Gehrke and Slater Sivage, a Hope Christian alumnus who plays for Cal Lutheran.
Thomas Tulk was the only other golfer who broke par at 71. Tulk is a former Portales High standout and Class 1A-4A state champion who plays for NMSU.
Aidan Thomas, the 2018 Class 5A state champion, who will be a senior at St. Pius in the fall, had a strong front nine, matching McCarthy, at 2 under. But he shot 5 over on the back nine, including three three-putts in a row on hole Nos. 11, 12 and 13.
Thomas played in the group ahead of McCarthy’s. They were on the same team when St. Pius won the Class 5A state championship in 2016, when McCarthy also won the state title.
Thomas will play in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., July 16-21.
Thomas said the three straight bogeys got to him mentally and he was unable to trust his putting.
He’ll try to turn it around in the second round today at Los Altos.