RTJ Trail blazing

Jacob LeCroy (65), Alex Harper (66) hold first-round lead in RTJ Championship at Silver Lakes

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

SILVER LAKES — Sometimes you play good and sometimes you learn good.

The first part of that piece of golf wisdom is pretty self-explanatory. The second part is generally accepted to mean you don’t play well, but learn a valuable lesson about your game.

Jacob LeCroy did both in Saturday’s opening round of the RTJ Championship at Silver Lakes. He played good and he learned good.

The South Alabama junior from Donoho shot a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 and in between shots picked the brain of cart partner Alex Harper on all things about the game from a next level perspective.

Harper caddies for Willy Wilcox and has toted the bag on some of the biggest stages in the game. He played well in his own right, posting a bogey-free 6-under 66 that basically mirrored LeCroy’s round. That’s 13-under-par out of the same cart, if you’re counting.

By the way, the three of them — LeCroy, Harper and Wilcox — have a round planned for Silver Lakes next week after Wilcox returns from San Diego, where he just earned an exemption into next month’s Korn Ferry Tour BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greenville, S.C.

Gary Wigington (68) and Dane Moore (69) will complete Sunday’s final group. Harrison Hughston (70), LeCroy’s former Donoho teammate, and Zach Contris (71) also posted rounds under par. 

As focused as they were when it came to hitting their shot, LeCroy and Harper kept the conversation going.

They talked about Wilcox’ inspiring comeback. They talked about the things caddies look at with their player. They talked about the difference between the players on the cusp of making it he’s played with and those who already have. And they talked about approaches Tour-level players might take on particular shots they encountered in the day’s round.

LeCroy agreed Saturday was a “play good day,” but it also was about as educational a round as he’s had in a while.

“We had a great conversation about Will and what all he’s been through and we had a lot of fun,” LeCroy said. “We talked about what he had seen out there on Tour and I’m asking questions because he’s been out there and he’s played out there with some of the best players in the world standing right there beside him.

“It was a lot of reinforcement and believing in what I’m trying to do. My coach has made me a good player and what he preaches is the same thing (Harper) and Will do out there on tour, and it’s cool to hear that. Hearing that reinforcement, especially from a person who’s been out there, is awesome to hear.”

As much as Harper helped LeCroy get a better grasp on the game’s higher plane, playing with LeCroy helped Harper as well.

Despite playing a limited number of competitive rounds a year, Harper’s game remains sharp. He has shot 66 before in the weekend group at Silver Lakes and shot 69 in the first round of this tournament in 2019, but literally going shot for shot with a 22-year-old college player in the prime of his game invigorated him.

They were both 3-under at the turn and both birdied 10, 14 and 18 coming home. The difference in their rounds was LeCroy birdied their 17^th hole (Backbreaker 8) and Harper didn’t.

“It gave me energy today that I never would have had playing with a couple other buddies,” the 35-year-old said. “Playing with him, he’s just young and hungry and he’s grinding and knows what he wants to accomplish, and hearing that kind of made me feel young again. It gave me the energy to keep the pedal down and not just go through the round.”

Harper hadn’t touched a club in 12 days between a lesson from Cider Ridge’s Jammie Lett (at Wilcox’ suggestion) and Friday’s practice round, but made six birdies Saturday and had seven other looks inside 15 feet. 

NOTES: Randy and Will Reaves completed the leaders’ foursome. The group combined for a best-ball score of 12-under-par … Wigington made six birdies in his round, but they were offset by double bogey on Heartbreaker 7 … Nick Ledbetter had two of the round’s six eagles (BB3, BB9). The others were scored by Dane Moore (HB1), Cole McNeal (BB3), Morton Holcomb (HB1) and Nathan Williams (BB9) … Every hole yielded at least one birdie … Harper reported Wilcox’ second stage of U.S. Open qualifying has been moved to Roswell, Ga., which will make it easier for him to get to the KFT event in South Carolina the next day..

RTJ Championship

(Heartbreaker-Backbreaker)
CHAMPIONSHIIP A
Jacob LeCroy	33	32	65
Alex Harper	33	33	66
Gary Wigington	36	32	68
Dane Moore	34	35	69
Harrison Hughston	37	33	70
Zach Contris	36	35	71
Jeremy McGatha	37	35	72
Dalton Chandler	36	36	72
CHAMPIONSHIP B
Layton Bussey	35	38	73
Chad Calvert	36	37	73
Nick Ledbetter	38	35	73
Chris Cox	36	37	73
Cain Hollingsworth	38	36	74
Corey Ray	36	38	74
Will Reaves	37	37	74
Nick Lee	40	34	74
Luke Armstrong	38	36	74
Chandler Richards	43	32	75
Clay Calkins	37	38	75
Landon Straub	37	38	75
Jason Britton	37	38	75
FIRST FLIGHT
Chsae Hollingsworth	38	38	76
Jake Goggans	36	40	76
Brennan Clay	39	37	76
Matt Rogers	34	42	76
Jody Wooten	40	37	77
Casey Harmon	38	39	77
Randy Lipscomb	41	36	77
Randy Reaves	36	41	77
Jeff Chapman	39	38	77
Shawn Ledbetter	39	38	77
Hunter Carr	40	38	78
Daily Thomas	42	36	78
SECOND FLIGHT
Morton Holcomb	40	39	79
Vance Lewis	40	39	79
Alex Argo	40	39	79
Trent Ralston	38	41	79
Tanner Wells	41	38	79
Chris Sanford	41	38	79
Mason Dennis	42	38	80
Ted Heim	39	41	80
Cole McNeal	43	37	80
Mike Hughston	37	44	81
Jake Williams	41	40	81
Patrick Cooper	41	40	81
Robert Daniel	42	39	81
Cole Contris	42	39	81
THIRD FLIGHT
Corey Mize	42	40	82
Cliff Tucker	43	39	82
Joseph Hedgepeth	43	39	82
Joe Williams	41	42	83
Jeff Bain	40	43	83
Daniel Black	40	43	83
Michael Casey	45	39	84
Ethan Davis	42	42	84
Matt Greer	40	44	84
Zach Graham	45	40	85
Tyler Romine	42	43	85
Jared Patterson	44	42	86
Mike Lett	41	45	86
Noah Huckeba	44	42	86
FOURTH FLIGHT
Bill Gilchrist	43	44	87
Dre Davenport	45	42	87
Jeff Noah	43	44	87
Logn Forrester	45	43	88
Jason Payne	44	44	88
David Scruggs	44	45	89
Nathan Williams	48	42	90
Mike Ledbetter	46	44	90
Kevin Godshall	46	45	91
Mason Aulsbrook	50	42	92
Craig Graves	47	45	92
FIFTH FLIGHT
Parker Staton	46	47	93
Scott Jimmerson	45	48	93
Danny Casey	47	47	94
Kenny Fulmer	45	49	94
Cam Hurst	49	49	98
Tyrell Tucker	56	43	99
Fisher Prichard	49	52	101
Gavin Johnson	50	52	102
Marlee Hedgepeth	53	51	104
Andy Long	55	53	108
Mark Rains	55	53	108
Keith Hutcheson	57	55	112

Sunday pairings

8 a.m.: Keith Hutcheson, Mark Rains, Andy Lang
8:10: Marlee Hedgepeth, Fisher Prichard, Gavin Johnson
8:20: Kenny Fulmer, Cam Hurst, Tyrell Tucker
8:30: Danny Casey, Craig Graves, Parker Staton, Scott Jimmerson
8:40: Mason Aulsbrook, Kevin Godshall, Mike Ledbetter, Nathan Williams
8:50: David Scruggs, Jason Payne, Logan Forrester, Jeff Noah
9:00: Dre Davenport, Noah Huckeba, Bill Gilchrist, Mike Lett 
9:10: Jared Patterson, Tyler Romine, Zach Graham, Matt Greer
9:20: Ethan Davis, Michael Casey, Daniel Black, Jeff Bain
9:30: Joe Williams, Joseph Hedgepeth, Cliff Tucker, Corey Mize
9:40: Cole Contris, Jake Williams, Paatrick Cooper, Robert Daniel
9:50: Mike Hughston, Ted Heim, Ott Chandler, Cole McNeal
10:00: Mason Dennis, Alex Argo, Chris Sanford, Trent Ralston
10:10: Daily Thomas, Tanner Wells, Morton Holcomb, Vance Lewis
10:20: Hunter Carr, Casey Harmon, Jeff Chapman, Shawn Ledbetter
10:30: Randy Lipscomb, Jody Wooten, Randy Reaves, Matt Rogers
10:40: Brennan Clay, Landon Straub, Chase Hollingsworth, Jake Goggans
10:50: Jason Britton, Clay Calkins, Corey Ray, Chandler Richards
11:00: Luke Armstrong, Will Reaves, Cain Hollingsworth, Nick Lee
11:10: Layton Bussey, Nick Ledbetter, Chad Calvert, Chris Cox
11:20: Jeremy McGatha, Zach Contris, Dalton Chandler, Harrison Hughston
11:30: Dane Moore, Gary Wigington, Alex Harper, Jacob LeCroy

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