Michael Arnaud shares lead in Victoria Open; Braden Bailey three back
Published 12:02 am Thursday, September 12, 2019
A player with a Southeast Texas background was atop the leaderboard in Wednesday’s lightning suspended opening round of the All Pro Tour Victoria Open, but it wasn’t Port Neches-Groves ex Braden Bailey.
West Orange-Stark’s Michael Arnaud, who spent most of 2019 fighting to make cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour, fashioned a bogey-free, five-under-par 66 to share the lead with Kirk Thomas of Bossier City, Louisiana. Arnaud got rolling with an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole and added birdies at the par-4 fifth, the par-4 10th and the par-4 17th.
Bailey battled back from a wobbly start to open with a 69. The recent Baylor grad had to overcome three bogeys on his first six holes. He did it by playing seven through 14 in five under. At day’s end, he’d made six birdies to offset four bogeys.
When lighting stopped play, 30 of the 70 players in the field were still on the course. They will restart at 8 a.m. today, with the second round teeing off after the first round has been completed.