Amateur Mason Kidwell leads the field of 132 after Round One.

The morning wave of the West Virginia Open Championship took advantage of the cooler temperatures. Mason Kidwell of Charles Town got off to a hot start, firing a five under par 67 to lead the morning wave at Stonewall Resort, scoring seven birdies on the day. “I played really well today,” said Kidwell. “The putter was really working for me and I felt really good out there today.”

With a great afternoon round of four under par 68, Wheeling’s Thaddeus Obecny climbed the leaderboard into second place going into round two.

Sitting in third place tied at three under par are two-time champion Christian Brand of Scott Depot and defending champion David Bradshaw from Harpers Ferry.

As the afternoon wave began at 12:30, the temperatures began to rise into the 90s. “This is a tough test of golf,” said WVGA Executive Director Brad Ullman.  “We’re excited that this state championship is being held for the first time at Stonewall Resort and we are looking forward to the next two days of competitive golf among our state’s best professional and amateur golfers.”

The annual Coca-Cola Shootout took place Tuesday afternoon on the front nine at Stonewall Resort. Coca-Cola is one of the longest standing sponsors of the West Virginia open and has been host to the Coke shootout over the last 25 years. Defending West Virginia Open Champion David Bradshaw was victorious, winning the specialty event for the fourth time in his career.

Other highlights today include six birdies from Christopher Neighbors of Charles Town, five birdies from Ryan Bilby of Follansbee, three consecutive birdies from professional Thadd Obecny II of Wheeling and three birdies by Jared Shank of Charles Town.

Other top finishers were:

  • Tied for third at (-3) 69 –
    Christian Brand of Scott Depot; and
    David Bradshaw (p) of Harpers Ferry.
  • Tied for fifth at (-2) 70 –
    Cory Dillinger (p) of Morgantown; and
    Tyler Shamblin of Elkview.
  • Tied for seventh at (-1) 71 –
    Bryan Myers of Wheeling; and
    Nick Fleming of Cabins.

“I want to thank our superintendent Cordell Elmer and his team, as well as the volunteers.  They and the sponsors make this happen,” said Stonewall’s Head Golf Professional Mike Rogers.

Round two of the championship will begin Thursday morning at 7:30 with tee times off of the front and back nine. At the conclusion of play, the field will be cut to the lowest 60 scores and ties who will advance to the final round on Friday.

The WVOPEN Championship has a rich 88-year history. Legendary professional golfer Sam Snead holds the record for the most WV OPEN victories at 17. The defending champion is 12-time winner David Bradshaw.  The WV OPEN features the best amateur and professional golfers in West Virginia, competing for over $35,000 in prizes.

For today’s leaderboard, visit WV Open Leaderboard.  You can follow along with live scoring of the 89th West Virginia Open by CLICKING HERE.

For more information please visit wvga.org.