Grieve Leads 21st Metropolitan Open
Lake St. Louis, MO - The first round of the 21st Metropolitan Open Championship was one to remember for players, staff and spectators. The morning was cool and partly cloudy, but the afternoon brought on a pause in play due to lighting. Luckily, it was soon partly cloudy again with little to no rain as golfers eagerly resumed play. Lake Forest Country Club, the host of the Championship this year, played to a par 72 at 7,170 yards. The field was split into a morning and afternoon wave, which each had groups starting on Holes 1 and 10. The morning wave began at 7:15am and the afternoon began at 12:15pm.
In the morning wave, Pierce Grieve, Blake McShea and Daniel Wetterich set the tone for the day, after going off in the first groups of the day. Grieve of Lake Forest, IL had an eagle on hole 3, instantly setting him apart. He completed the front nine four-under par. McShea of Wendell, NC had several birdies on holes 3, 4 and 9 and ended three-under par on the front. Simultaneously, Wetterich of Cincinnati, OH was on the opposite side of the course, where he finished his first nine with three birdies. He followed that with birdies on holes 3 and 9 and ended the day four-under (-4) par. McShea joined Wetterich on the leaderboard after another three birdies on holes 15, 17 and 18 to end four-under (-4) par. Pierce added a birdie on hole 14 to bring his total to five-under (-5) par and top the leaderboard.
As the afternoon wave began, Spencer Cross, Jansen Preston, Thomas Lilly, Avery Schnieder, Tyler Isenhart all knew they had a tough competition. However, at 12:41pm, play was disrupted due to lighting in the area. Players waited a little over an hour before being shuttled back out onto the course by staff to resume play at 1:46pm.
Schnieder of New Albany, OH had a strong start on the front nine, with hole 9 as a highlight where he made eagle. Preston of Lexington, KY put up a fight with two birdies on the front and three on the back. Lilly of Wilmington, NC and Cross of Knoxville, TN each had three birdies on the front nine and three birdies on the back nine. Isenhart of Geneva, IL jumped from one-under to four-under on the back nine, ending Round 1 on a good note in the last group of the day. These five golfers joined McShea and Wetterich in a tie for second at four-under (-4) par.
By the conclusion of Round 1, Grieve held the lead at five-under (-5) par. McShea, Wetterich, Preston, Lilly, Cross, Schnieder and Isenhart are all tied for second at four-under (-4) par. Three players - Nicklaus Mason, Mac McClear, and Presten Richardson - are close behind at three-under (-3) par. 50 golfers shot rounds of even par or better in the first round. Round 2 will begin at 7:15am Friday morning. A cut will be made following the second round to the low 40 and ties. Follow along to see if Grieve will continue to lead the pack and which players will make a move up the leaderboard to get in the mix!