A true test of golf began Tuesday morning as the 2018 Men's Missouri Amateur Championship began play at Dalhousie Golf Club.
Heat, wind, a difficult tract, former high school rivals, past champions and wile veterans are among the obstacles standing in the way of a field of 146 golfers that will be trimmed to 64 golfers today and eventually whittled down to a champion with six rounds of match play over four days.
"It could be a long week," said Brady Dixon, a former Notre Dame Regional High School golfer. "Hopefully it is."
Dixon, a recent graduate of SIU Edwardsville where he played collegiate golf for four years, shot a first-round 74, two shots over par and tied for 16th.
Ahead of him was one of his high school rivals, Travis Simmons, who sent out a timely reminder to Dixon and his other former prep rivals in this week's field that he was a two-time SEMO Conference champion while at Cape Girardeau Central.
"I don't every let them forget it," said Simmons, who wrapped up his college playing career last month at the University of Central Missouri, where he played for four years.
Simmons' not-so-gentle reminder was a 3-under 69 on Tuesday, which had him in a three-way tie for second with Sam Midgal, a former teammate of his at Central Missouri, and Jack Knoesel, who plays at Missouri State.
They were all looking up at 2017 Missouri Amateur champion Brad Nurski of St. Joseph, Missouri, who led all with a 5-under 67 round, carded in blustery afternoon conditions. It was an early statement from Nurski, who vanquished Dixon and Brevin Giebler of Cape Girardeau in last year's match play before ending the reign of Migdal, the 2016 champion, in the championship match.
Giebler, who reached the semifinals in 2012 when the tournament was last held at Dalhousie, is back in the hunt. One of 17 golfers from Southeast Missouri, Giebler settled down after stumbling out of the gate, shooting an opening 76. The 2012 medalist in the stroke-play portion, Giebler started on the back nine and opened with a bogey, put a shot in the water for a double-bogey on his second hole and was 5-over par after five holes. He played his next 13 holes in 1-under.
"I didn't hit a good second shot on No. 10, and that kind of set the tone," Giebler said. "But overall, I'm satisfied."
Giebler saw birdie putts on the final two holes lip out. It left him tied for 34th.
"Brevin is such a solid player and so consistent," said Drew Denton of Jackson, who opened with a 73 and tied for 23rd. "I bet if you ask him, that's the worst score he could have shot today, which kind of gives you an indication of how good he is."
For those who may have forgotten, Giebler shot an 8-under 28 on the back nine of his second round in 2012 in claiming medalist honors. He doesn't believe too many people are shooting at him on that laurel.
"Most of the people in this tournament were 12 when I was playing in that, so I'm not worrying about that," he said with a laugh. "One shot at a time, and we'll see what tomorrow brings."
Denton, who played collegiate golf at Division III Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and joined Dalhousie before moving to the area five and a half years ago to start a landscape design company, also endured a slow start after starting on the back nine. He shot a 41 over his first nine holes, punctuated by a double-bogey 7 on No. 18 after his drive clipped a branch off the tee and was lost.
He reeled off four birdies on the front, sparked by a 12-foot putt on No. 2, to card a 32.
"After I turned in 41, my goal was to shoot 77 -- shoot even par on the back," Denton said. "Lo and behold, sometimes when you stay patient, you end up making birdies, and that's what I did."
Migdal, one of the most decorated players in the field, was preaching a similar message.
"Just be patient," Midgal said. "You can't win it in the stroke play. Get to match play and anything can happen from there."
Midgal was the NCAA Division II national champion while at Central Missouri, a senior on the team during Simmons' freshman year.
"Just to know him and see him do that was pretty cool," Simmons said. "It kind of opened my eyes. He was a good player throughout college, but he wasn't just somebody that you would just expect to walk out and win a national championship. Just to see him do that kind of opened my eyes -- if it's your week and you're on, you're the only one that's going to stop yourself from hitting good golf shots."
Simmons was as hot as any golfer Tuesday with five birdies in his first eight holes, making the turn to the backside at 5-under par. Crisp iron play consistently left him with birdie chances inside of 15 feet, and he capitalized. Jason Cahill of Jackson, who played in Simmons' threesome, had a front row seat and raved about the show as they made the turn.
"It's been impressive to watch," Cahill said. "His only bad shot was on the last hole, and it wasn't really a bad shot -- he just under-clubbed."
Simmons, who has been playing in the Missouri Amateur since 2012 but has yet to make it to match play, proceeded to hit his tee shot on No. 10 into the water to make his first bogey, and had two more on the back, offset somewhat by a chip-in birdie on the par-3 13th.
Simmons said he was pleased with his round, but not in the context of his ambitions. He graduated with a degree in entrepreneurship last month but since has been devoting himself full-time to golf with aspirations of turning professional.
"If I was playing in a professional event right now, I'd be kicking myself," Simmons said, "because to play good on the front nine like that and only end up shooting 3-under on the day ... it's a good score, but it's not going to win golf tournaments out there."
Dixon, who grew up in Mounds, Illinois, and graduated in May with a degree in exercise science, also said he is contemplating a run at professional golf after a strong senior season, and the tournament this week as well as the Illinois Amateur in July may factor into the decision.
Dalhousie is the home course for Dixon, Simmons, Giebler and Denton, and all said they view it as an advantage.
"You still have to hit the golf shots, but around the green is where the advantage is because these green have a lot of subtleties to them," Simmons said. "So playing out there every day, I kind of know them by heart."
Dixon said he learned the game at the nine-hole course in Mounds, but has fine-tuned his game at Dalhousie.
"Maybe this week we can have something click and see where it takes me," Dixon said. "It'd be a special place to do it."
Other local golfers of note: Chance Holden of Dexter (72, t-12), Gabe Wheeler of Sikeston (78, t-57) Tanner Walton of Jackson (79, t-75), Adam Friga of Oran (79, t-75), Brian Whitson of Dexter (80, t-82), Carsen Silliman of Jackson (80, t-82), Kent Phillips of Cape Girardeau (81, t-97), Jason Cahill of Jackson (81, t-97), Ben Brumitt of Poplar Bluff (84, t-118), Nathan Woolard of Poplar Bluff (84, t-118), Marvin Whitson of Dexter (86, t-128), Brandon Cooper of Cape Girardeau (90, t-140).