Howe leads Fuhrer Invitational by 2 strokes
T.J. Howe survived a 3-hour rain delay and 36 holes of golf on the Pittsburgh Field Club in Fox Chapel to shoot 6-under 134 on the first day of the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational.
Howe shot 3-under 67 in both of the first-day rounds to hold a two-stroke lead over Dan Obremski.
Easton Renwick is alone in third place at 1-over 141 (72-69).
Waynesburg Central graduate Robert Rohanna, David Bradshaw and Matt Schall are tied in fourth place at 2-over 142.
Rohanna shot 1-over 71 in both rounds. He played the morning round 37-34 and shot 36-35 in the afternoon. Rohanna carded two birdies and three bogeys in each of the two rounds.
“We had a 3-hour rain delay in the morning,” said Rohanna.
“I played pretty good,” continued Rohanna. “This course isn’t easy. (The rain) made it harder. You don’t get the normal roll out on the fairways.”
Rohanna is literally getting back into the swing of things with his first competitive round of golf of 2017. A newlywed, he married Sarah Neumann on June 10.
“I’m not really working the ball the same direction, not a consistent direction,” explained Rohanna. “Distance control was the worst thing I did today. My iron game was lacking a little.
“My putter was pretty good today. I rolled it pretty nice.”
Rohanna said landing in the rough, especially given all the rain the area has received of late, is a penalty.
“I need to get the ball off the tee and play out of the fairway,” said Rohanna. “The Field Club is really tough. The greens were a little slower today and you still couldn’t keep it on the green.”
Rohanna is familiar with the golfer atop the leaderboard, adding, “T.J. is an old college teammate (from Penn State University).”
Uniontown Country Club professional Aaron Gizzi had a tough 36 holes, finishing at 25-over 165 (85-80).
“I played with Aaron today. He was in some unfortunate places,” said Rohanna.
The tournament has 36 holes remaining.