ROCHESTER HILLS – Tyler Copp of Ann Arbor birdied five of the back nine’s first six holes, shot 30 coming in and finished with a 6-under 65 to lead through one round of the 106th Hall Financial Michigan Open presented by Make The Turn, Brighton Ford and Coppercraft Distillery on the Katke Course at Oakland University Golf & Learning Center Monday.
Copp, the 2020 Michigan Amateur champion and a 25-year-old second-year mini-tour professional, had a one-shot lead on 65-shooting Benny Cook of Bath, the 2020 and 2021 Michigan PGA Professional champion.
Joe Juszczyk of Dearborn Heights, a 36-year-old PGA Tour Canada player, Grant Haefner of Bloomfield Hills, who turned pro last September and Zach Sudinsky, a mini-tour player who helps coach the Eastern Michigan golf team, each shot 67, and James Holley, a mini-tour player out of Howell, shot 68 on a cold and windy day.
Charles DeLong of DeWitt and Grand Valley State University golfer, the recent Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the top player in NCAA Division II, shot 69. He was joined there by Logan Price of Grand Blanc and Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Ronnie Aniel, a 19-year-old Michigan State University student from Shelby Township and Connor Fox, a junior-to-be this fall at Lake Orion High School.
Copp said he has been working on some swing changes with his teacher Jason Guss, the PGA teaching professional formerly of Lansing who now works in Illinois.
“It’s been a little frustrating but it’s kind of gotten better just incrementally,” Copp said. “So I thought it was possible to come out and play well, but I wouldn’t say I was overly confident. The putter got hot on the back nine and I think I kind of figured some things out with the swing a little bit on the front nine, too.”
Copp said he made a bogey on No. 9 to finish the front at even-par and was running a little hot.
“Then I flared a drive on 10 and I was standing in a pine tree with no follow through,” he said. “I hit a nine-iron over the trees with a draw to like 15 feet and made birdie and that’s what got me going. That was definitely the key shot of the day.”
Cook, 29, is a new father and working at Country Club of Lansing this summer with plans for Korn Ferry Qualifying in the fall. He said he has been hitting the ball well while practicing and playing around his work schedule but wasn’t sure what would happen on the course.
“A lot of guys can do it at their home club, but I want to know if I can do it when it matters, that’s where I was coming into this week,” he said. “It’s nice to play well in a real tournament when it matters.”
He said he built his round with good shots throughout the day.
“I really only had a few mistakes, otherwise pretty solid,” he said. “Probably the turning point hole for me was 11. I snapped a hook off the tee about 150 yards, then hit a shot to the backside of the green and somehow got up and down. That was a crazy weird save and it kept the round going.”
The field will play a second round Tuesday before a cut to the low 70 scorers and ties. Play continues through Thursday for a record purse of $122,500.
SCORES: michiganpga.com or link to Hall Financial Michigan Open Champ – Michigan Open Championship Leaderboard | Michigan PGA (bluegolf.com)
ABOUT HALL FINANCIAL: David Hall started in the mortgage business in 1996 and his passion for the business and his clients has never been stronger. After working for others for over 20 years, David started Hall Financial in 2016 with the core mission to be the most client-focused mortgage company in the industry. Media contact for Hall Financial: Mark Gildersleeve, Vice-President-Marketing & Strategy, 248-590-0131, mgildersleeve@hallfg.com. Website: callhallfirst.com
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