Seth Strickland is halfway to his fourth triumph in the GCSAA National Championship.
Strickland, the superintendent at Miami (Fla.) Shores CC, fired an even-par score of 72 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West to take the first-round lead at the 2012 event being played this weekend in Palm Springs. Strickland missed last year's tournament in Orlando because of the birth of a child, but won championships in 2005, 2008 and 2009.
Strickland will have to work to claim title No. 4, though, as five players stand just one shot back of the lead following the first day of the tournament, including 2004 champion Tommy Robinson from Ravinia Green CC in Deerfield, Ill. Also carding scores of 73 in the first round were Deron Zendt from Banyan GC in West Palm Beach, Fla., Robert Roy from The River Club in Suwanee, Ga., Jim Torba from Wilderness CC in Naples, Fla., and Michael Stieler from Riverbend GC in Madera, Calif.
Three other competitors are just two shots off the lead following 2-over-par rounds of 74 on Saturday — Robert Harper from the Club at Emerald Hills in Hollywood, Fla., Chester Guzek from Meadow Farms GC in Locust, Va., and Dean Hall from Tanto Verde GC in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Complete results from the first day of play in both the National Championship and Golf Classic can be found at the tournament's official website. Also, I've been uploading photos from this week's activities in Palm Springs to a photo album that you can access on the right side of this page.
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