Keene, Moffitt Lead Brainerd Invitational with 5-under 67's

Richard Keene isn’t ready to leave the Chattanooga amateur golf scene to the youngsters. Not just yet.

Keene, long one of the city’s top amateurs, hasn’t been in contention in local tournaments all that often the last couple of years. Various physical ailments hampered him for a time. And the competition has improved considerably, with an influx of young, talented high school and college players joining the circuit.

The field at the Brainerd Invitational, which began at Brainerd on Saturday, was loaded with such players: Ricky Honeycutt (Tennessee), Bryce Ledford and Tyson Elliott (UTC), Chris Gilliland (Furman), plus some recent college graduates like Andrew Black, who finished third in last month’s Southern Amateur at The Honors, and Patrick Williams, the former Middle Tennessee State player who finished fourth in last week’s Tennessee Amateur.

At the end of the day, two players stood atop the leaderboard. And one of them was the 46-year-old Keene, whose 5-under-par 67 tied him with Walt Moffitt. Four players were two shots back after 69s: David McKenna, Tripp Harris, Tyler Lane and Paul Webster.

The truth is, Keene being in contention at Brainerd isn’t all that newsworthy, despite the rough patch he’s endured the last few years that included the death of both parents, a heart attack scare, skin cancer and wrist surgery. Keene grew up on the course, and has played, as nearly as he can estimate, more than 3,500 rounds there. A few of those rounds came in the Brainerd Invitational, which he’s won four times.

"I don’t have to spend a lot of time looking up yardages," Keene said of his familiarity with the venerable course. "There are no surprises for me out here."

Keene got off to a nice start when he drained a 40-foot putt for a birdie at the par-3 second hole. He promptly gave the stroke back after a bogey at No. 3, set up by what Keene described as a "cold topped" tee shot.

Keene got back under par with a birdie at No. 7, but gave away a shot by three-putting the par-5 eighth hole for a par.

Once Keene made the turn, his round began in earnest when he started driving the ball long and straight. Not coincidentally, Keene started knocking down pins. He missed an eight-foot putt for birdie at No. 10 and a six-footer at No. 11. Undaunted, he kept firing at the flags, reasoning that sooner or later, his birdie putts would start falling.

The first one fell at No. 12, a six-footer that took Keene to 2-under-par for the day. He chipped to within five feet at the par-5 13^th and made another birdie, then made two more in a row after knocking a pitching wedge to a foot at 14 and draining an eight-footer at 15.

After the putt dropped at 15, Keene began pondering the possibilities. "I started thinking maybe I could shoot a little 29 on the back," Keene said. "That was my problem—I started to think. I started adding them up before I finished."

Thus ended Keene’s birdie barrage. He finished with all pars, even on the par-5 18^th after hitting a 7-iron to 20 feet. Another three-putt par cost him the outright lead.

Moffitt, another veteran of the Chattanooga amateur circuit, had no such problems on Brainerd’s par 5s. He made two eagles, at No. 8 and No. 13. The second eagle left him at 7-under for the day with some birdie holes still in front of him.

"I thought he was going to shoot 62," said Tom Schreiner, the 2003 Brainerd champion who was paired with Moffitt. He’s seven under through 13 holes and was making everything he looked at on the greens.

Alas, a 62 wasn’t to be. Moffitt bogeyed two holes coming in, No. 15 and No. 17.

Though none of the college players in the field broke 70, several were within striking distance of Keene and Moffitt. Gilliland shot 70, Elliott and Ledford 71 and Honeycutt 72.