WOODSTOCK — Mid-afternoon on Monday, Bill Gaffney walked up to the deck at the Woodstock Country Club clubhouse to assess his status through the first round of the Jeff Julian Memorial Vermont Open.
Gaffney had been the first golfer off the tee shortly after 7 a.m., and he fashioned a 6-under-par 64 that topped the leaderboard all day. But when asked if he thought it would be a good enough score to hold the advantage come the end of the round, the Buffalo, N.Y., native said no.
He must have known something.
Pennsylvania’s David Denlinger, playing in the next-to-last group of the afternoon, uncorked a course-record 8-under 62 — aided by an eagle-birdie start — to take a two-stroke lead through the first day of the championship. Gaffney sits two shots back amid a field that largely capitalized on a Woodstock course vulnerable to attack thanks to rain-softened greens and generous fairways.
“I haven’t played too consistently this year; I’ve dealt with a little bit of a hip injury, but yeah, I’m feeling good now,” said Denlinger, a four-year pro and current competitor on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica. “The putter felt good, obviously. Getting off that start, you can’t ask for a better start.”
Woodstock is serving as temporary host because the Open’s usual haunt, Lake Morey Country Club in Fairlee, is still recovering from winter damage to four greens. Some of the 114 golfers in the field this week have never seen the 6,052-yard track before, yet it didn’t stop more than a quarter of the field from shooting par or better on Monday.
The pack chasing Denlinger includes Gaffney, who shared fourth at Morey two years ago, an assistant pro at Vermont’s most storied course, the son of a longtime PGA Tour professional and a host of others either pro, amateur, Upper Valley-connected or any combination thereof.
“There are a couple of par-5s out there that are almost not par-5s,” said former New Hampshire Amateur champ Connor Greenleaf, of Windham, N.H., who checked in at 1-under 69. “You should be making birdie on at least two of these holes guaranteed. … It’s pretty doable. It’s only 6,000 yards.”
Denlinger, from Lancaster, Pa., by way of Charleston Southern, took advantage of Woodstock in two ways, on the course and on the schedule. A regular on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, the Vermont Open comes during a break in that circuit’s split schedule. Denlinger tied for 14th at the New England Open in Quechee two weeks ago, but nothing could have set up Monday’s efforts.
The 28-year-old came flying out of the gate with an eagle on Woodstock’s 507-yard par-5 opening hole, one of just six eagles recorded anywhere on the course on Monday. A birdie on 2 followed, but two bogeys leading toward the turn threatened to bring Denlinger back to the crowd.
Starting on 9, he pulled away from it. Denlinger birdied seven of his last 10 holes — including 14-15-16-17 in succession — to break the previous course record of 63.
“I told myself to just keep playing,” he said. “I knew there were a lot of birdies out here.”
Nearly 300, to be exact, seven of them belonging to Gaffney.
The former Youngstown (Ohio) State competitor opened with three straight birdies and closed with four over the back nine holes for a lead that stuck for more than six hours. It’s an encouraging start for someone who has only recently felt comfortable returning to tournament golf following a 2½-month battle with vertigo.
“I’ve been battling with injuries over the past year,” Gaffney said. “This is actually the first tournament where I’ve actually felt normal playing. … I’m feeling kind of better now, and I’m playing better.
“I’ve not been trusting myself and not playing well enough, and most of it has come from a lack of trust. I just went out and said, ‘I’m going to play well whether I have to force it or not.’ ”
A trio of Chris Wiatr, Pete Weatherby and Jamison Sindelar sits four shots back. Wiatr played his first round with Gaffney. Weatherby is a second-year assistant at storied Ekwanok Country Club in Manchester, Vt. Sindelar is the son of longtime PGA Tour and Champions Tour pro Joey Sindelar.
“I’m coming off the back end of a cold, so anything keeping the ball in the park today was great,” the younger Sindelar said. “To make a couple of putts was nice. But it actually could have been a couple lower; I left a couple out there.”
Vermont Open veteran Eric Egloff has Ontario’s Branson Ferrier and Massachusetts’ Ian Thimble for company at 67. Six competitors are at 68.
Five others — including Greeleaf as well as past Vermont Open champions John Elliott (1996) and Peter French (2017) — sit at 69. The gang of 11 golfers at even-par 70 includes the two top amateurs thus far, former Rutland High star Drake Hull and Lebanon’s Pat Pelletier, the defending New Hampshire player of the year.
Golfers will switch nines for second-round play starting around 7 a.m. on Tuesday. The top 60 professionals advance to Wednesday’s final round, searching for a piece of a $28,000 purse.
Chip Shots: Kimball Union Academy graduate Evan Russell, who was in the initial Vermont Open field this week, pulled out over the weekend to play in Monday’s qualifier for the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship in Connecticut. Russell nearly made the field, eventually losing in a nine-players-for-three-spots playoff despite a 5-under-par 67 at Ellington Ridge Country Club. … Water hazard: Shawn Warren withdrew on Monday after his runaway pull cart fell into Kedron Brook by the 13th hole before he followed it into the water trying to save it. … Matthew Campbell, of Rome, N.Y., who lost a playoff for the Cape Cod Open title earlier this season and would have been a Vermont Open favorite, withdrew from Woodstock after landing a spot in this week’s Web.com Tour event in Wichita, Kan. … Ferrier, who drove nine hours from Barrie, Ont., north of Toronto, to compete this week, shot a 4-under 66 to win the $600 first prize in Sunday’s low-gross tourney.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.