JOHNSTOWN — Mark Goetz had a tournament-saving five-hole stretch Wednesday during the second round of the 67th Annual Sunnehanna Amateur to remember.
The Greensburg native was stumbling at 3-over-par through six holes after he endured two weather delays when he turned around his day at Sunnehanna Country Club.
He went birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, which vaulted the West Virginia junior to 5-under and a share of the lead.
A couple bogeys during that final seven holes left him 1-under for the round and 3-under for the tournament, two shots off the lead.
“I needed that run,” Goetz said. “The birdie on seven changed the whole day. I hit 5-iron to about 10 feet and knocked it in. I was 3-over at that point.
“I didn’t really play bad coming down the stretch. I really missed one shot on No. 6 up the hill. I started out the day with a three putt, which isn’t great. You can’t get above the hole here.”
He wasn’t the only Western Pennsylvania golfer still in the hunt. Peters Township’s Connor Schmidt (Drexel) is at 3-under, and Murrysville’s Palmer Jackson (Notre Dame) got to 4-under after he birdied four holes on the back, including No. 18. Fox Chapel’s Gregor Meyer (High Point) is 1-under for the tournament.
Three other district players — New Castle’s Evan Long (3-over), Brookville’s Nathan Smith (4-over) and Oakmont’s Sean Knapp (10-over) — will need low rounds Thursday to make the cut for the final round (low 50 scores and ties).
Four players are tied for the lead at 5-under par: Graysen Huff, first-round leader Ryan Hybl, Preston Summerhays and Quade Cummins. Huff and Cummins shot 5-under 65s in Round 2.
Jackson is tied for fifth with six other golfers, and Schmidt and Goetz are tied for 12th with seven others. There are 44 golfers at even par or better.
Fog and two thunderstorm stoppages delayed Round 2. Goetz said the rain over the past two days has changed the course.
“That five-hole stretch was pretty important,” Goetz said. “The course is playing very differently than it did on Sunday and Monday.”
Goetz and Schmidt said they felt someone would open up a larger lead because of the softness of the greens, the result of more than 2 inches of rain the past two days.
“It was a good day start to finish,” Schmidt said. “I felt pretty comfortable and a pretty good round. I’m in a good position.”
Schmidt shot 2-under 68 during the second round. He had five birdies and three bogeys, and the two bogeys on the back nine were three putts.
“I made a couple misreads and I didn’t commit to the putt,” Schmidt said. “I made a lot of other good putts, so I can’t harp on that too much. I’m feeling good tee to green and on the green. I’m excited for Thursday.”
Schmidt said his confidence is growing every day.
Jackson said before the tournament he felt ready to win it. His day started early. He had to finish his first round at 9 a.m. He parred the hole to finish with a 3-under par 67.
His afternoon round didn’t start until about 3:30 p.m. He had two bogeys on the front nine and then got hot on the back nine with birdies on Nos. 10, 11 and 13. After a bogey on No. 15, he finished with a birdie on No. 18.
