Three atop leaderboard after Round One of the West Penn Open
By Mike Dudurich • July 22, 2024
INDIANA, PA – Before we delve to deeply into the first round of the West Penn Golf Association’s West Penn Open, consider this.
This is the 121st playing of the Open. Yes, that number is correct. 121.
If you have 121 of anything, you have a lot.
And not only have the Opens been plentiful, many of those championships have been contested on Western Pennsylvania’s premier layouts. What happens when the flagship event is contested on elite courses? Demand to get into those tests is almost always high and this year at Indiana Country Club is no different.
186 entries were received with a starting field of 75, six of those withdrew, leaving 69 players to chase the title.
At the end of the first round, Pittsburgh’s Gregor Meyer, Hickory’s Scott Jordan and Irwin native Dan Obremski had toured the lush layout in 68 strokes and sit atop the field.
Meyer had the most interesting round of the day, at least on the scorecard. Meyer opened his round with a birdie, ended it with a birdie and added two more in the middle. The only blemish on the card was a bogey on 15.
“I’m just trying to keep it in front of me,” Meyer said when asked to describe his round. “The greens here are pretty fast, and you have to give yourself as many chances as you can. I did that on a lot of holes, I just didn’t make all of them.”
Gregor has won an Open title, outdueling his good friend Palmer Jackson at Westmoreland Country Club in 2021.
The winning shot was a chip-in on the final hole. He laughed when he said, “And he reminds meal the time, saying, “You know you chipped in to beat me, right?”
Jordan made three birdies and one bogey to get his share of the lead and Obremski had maybe the most interesting scorecard of the three.
He started his day with two of his four front-nine birdies. He then bogeyed the fifth and double-bogeyed the eighth. All that added up to a 36 on the front nine and rebounded with four-under back nine to get to three-under par.
“I got out of playing and into teaching from 2020-2023 and I enjoyed that, but then I got the opportunity to play again and hopefully playing all summer will get me ready for Q-school,” he said. “I birdied the last two coming in and that was good. I stayed patient all day and that was good, too.”
Eight other players finished the day under par, including Greensburg’s Kevin Fajt. He made four birdies, an eagle and a bogey in an opening-nine 31. On the 11th, 12th and 13th holes, he went 6-6-5 and what could have been a special round finished at 70.
Defending champion Beau Titsworth, the 2023 champion, is three back at even par.
Round 2 gets underway at 8 this morning. Once that finished the field will be cut to 32 for Wednesday’s final round.
For a full leaderboard, click here.
For media inquiries, please contact WPGA Director of Communications Josh Rowntree.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and 34,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.