Minnesota Golf Association (2024)

July 23, 2024 | 4 min.
By Michael R Fermoyle

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- The two biggest stars in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship don't have their names at the top of the marquee after Monday's first round, but they aren't all that far from it.

Blades Brown is a 17-year-old prodigy from Nashville who qualified recently for a PGA Tour event, the Myrtle Beach Classic, when he was still 16, then made the cut and ended up tying for 26. On Monday, he shot a 4-under-par 66 on the North Course at Oakland Hills Country Club. That has him tied for third so far.

And Miles Russell, the 15-year-old who earned a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour's LECOM Suncoast Classic this spring, had a 68, also at the North Course, which put him in an eight-way tied for seventh. Russell made the cut in the LECOM Suncoast Classic, thereby becoming the youngest player ever to make a cut in a Korn Ferry tournament, under any of that tour's myriad names -- Ben Hogan Tour (1990-92), Nike Tour ('93-99), Buy.com Tour (2000-02), Nationwide Tour (2003-12) Web.com Tour (20012-19) and now Korn Ferry Tour (2019-?).

Tyler Watts and Mason Howell are the co-leaders. They each shot 65 on the North Course. Both of them started on the North's 150-yard, par-3 10th hole. Howell birdied it, but Watts bogeyed it. Watts redeemed himself with three birdies on the back nine, and three more birdies on the first four holes of the front nine. As for Howell, he made three more birdies on the back side, plus one bogey, and had three birdies and a bogey on the front.

The player who might be in the best position going into the second round of stroke-play qualifying on Tuesday is Mack Edwards. He's the one tied with Brown for third, and he produced his 66 on Oakland Hills' South Course, which is the longer (7,330 yards to 6,808) -- and tougher -- of the two courses being used this week, and will be the course where all of the matches are played.

While Brown was getting around North with only one bogey, against five birdies, Russell was taking a roller-coaster ride, on the front nine, at least. He holed his second shot at the 342-yard, par-4 first hole, but followed that with three bogeys in the next four holes, at Nos. 2, 4 and 5. He birdied the sixth and seventh holes but made his fourth bogey of the outward nine at the 481-yard, par-4 eighth. On the back nine, things were considerably tamer -- seven pars and two birdies.

Jake Birdwell, who won the Class AAA portion of the Minnesota state high school tournament last year -- clinching the victory with a 390-yard drive to within 20 feet of the cup on the 36th hole (No. 9 West) at Bunker Hills GC -- is tied for 23rd after opening with a 70 on North. The freshman to be at Illinois made 14 pars but went bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie on the four-hole stretch from No. 11 through 14.