BOYNE FALLS - Otto Black and Barrett Kelpin each fired 5-under par rounds of 67 to sit in a tie for the lead after the first day of the Michigan PGA Tournament of Champions, being held on the Alpine Course at Boyne Mountain Resort this week.
Black recorded eight birdies in his round, along with three bogeys.
“I like the course a lot,” Black said. “I like the setup. It’s a great golf tournament. I’m got two more days, so I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Kelpin, meanwhile, started off slowly on his round, with a bogey on his second hole. He followed that with an eagle that kick-started him. He shot 4-under-par on his second nine to surge into a tie for the lead.
“If you can hit your wedges and short irons in the right places into the greens, you can have very makeable putts all day,” Kelpin said. “I felt like I did a pretty good job of that most of the day, positioning the ball on the green.”
Of the 120 competitors in this year’s field, just 27 finished with an under-par round after Monday. Ian Ziska is in a tie with Steven Vecellio for third place at 4-under.
Eight other golfers shot 3-under-par rounds of 69.
The second round on the Alpine Course tees off at 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
