Kraig Williams aces the # 4  hole at Brush Creek G.C., using a pitching wedge from 126 yards.

By Grant Hall
SPECIAL TO THE MORNING NEWS

FAYETTEVILLE – Everything is coming up aces for Alex Neal at Paradise Valley Athletic Club.

Neal, bidding for his third straight PVAC Invitational title, spiced his opening 2-under-par 69 with a hole-in-one at the 156-yard second hole on Saturday.

“I didn’t even see it go in,” Neal said. “The ball was a little left of the hole, and it must have spun back to the right. The guys on No. 5 tee started hollering, and then I high-fived Drew Stewart and Dusty Gourley.”

Neal leads Rusty Ramsey (71) by two strokes and Brady Fennel (72) by three.

Stewart, the PVAC club champion who shot a 74, said, “Alex looked down and started walking after he hit the shot. We couldn’t see it spinning back.”

It was Neal’s second ace. He made one on No. 17 at the Fayetteville Country Club Member-Guest Tournament in 2006.

Neal used an 8-iron on Saturday.

“I was between an 8 and a 9, so I hit an easy 8,” he said.

The shot propelled him to a 3-under-par 33 on the front nine, including a two-putt birdie at No. 5 and a two-foot birdie putt at No. 9, after a bogey at No. 1. He shot a 1-over 36 on the back, with a bogey at No. 13.

“I was lucky to make a par at 17,” Neal said. “I drove it in the water, and then it started raining so hard that we took shelter under some pine trees for about five minutes.”

A morning storm had delayed the start of play for two hours, but all 105 golfers were able to slog through from start to finish.

“There was casual water on almost every hole,” Neal said.

Former Razorback Buddy Wilkins shot an inspired round of 73, with chip-ins at Nos. 3 and 15 countering a triple-bogey at No. 12, where he had three penalty strokes.

Wilkins’ mother, Martha, of Chicago, caddied for him. Martha’s late brother, Mark Seifert, caddied for Wilkins when he won the PVAC Invitational in 2005. Martha has donated a monument to be placed at No. 4 at PVAC, engraved, “In memory of Mark Seifert, the Biggest of the Big Time.”

Fennel, a senior at Florida Gulf Coast, said he scrambled well.

Sawyer Radler, who will play for Arkansas State in the fall, shot a 76 that included a bogey 5 at No. 18 despite an out-of-bounds penalty. Radler plans to play in the Big I at Pinehurst, N.C., and the AJGA Tournament at the Blessings in Johnson this summer.

“I’m so excited about Stacy Lewis leading the Women’s Open,” Radler said. “I got to play with her at the Blessings a few months ago. She’s so solid.”

Nolan Richardson, 66, shot an 85 in the open flight after hitting his opening tee shot at No. 10 out of bounds.

“This is the first tournament I’ve played in about 15 years,” Richardson said.

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT

Alex Neal 69

Rusty Ramsey 71

Brady Fennel 72

Buddy Wilkins 73

Chad Faucett 73

Caasey Castleberry 73

Lyndy Lindsey 73

Drew Stewart 74

Dusty Gourley 74

Michael Chaney 74

Matt Dura 74

Justin Thompson 75

Sawyer Radler 76

Anthony Delao 76

Marc Murders 76

Steven Dixon 77

Chris Collins 77

Matt McKown 77

Darren Harmon 77

Mike Lyman 77

Kent Reither 78

Kevin Cortez 78

Sean Mulvenon 78

Kirk Wardlow 78

Andrew Woody 78

Jeremy Hart 79

Marshall Carter 79

Darrell Baker 80

Bill Kelsay 80

Wayne Beach 81

Rick Coatney 82

John Branch 82

Lance Belline 83

Matt Dobsen 83

Russell Mayo 83

Mark Parsons 85

Keith Knight 85

Bruce Haney 87

Adam Russell 89

Kyle Yarbrough 92

SENIOR FLIGHT

Doug Schumacher 73

John Vinson 75

Marc Richardson 76

Mike Hale 80

Bob White 81

Jim Davis 84

Robin Ivy 85

Dennis Kearbey 85

Rick McCoy 86

John Leonard 87

David Crittenden 92

SUPER SENIORS

Bob Twilley 75

Carl Bell 77

OPEN FLIGHT

Chris Vernelson 70

Hug Radler 74

John Glidewell 75

Jeff Serfass 76

Brett Murphy 76

Tim Taylor 76

Jeff Goins 78

Larrie Stolfi 79

Doug Watson 79

Duane Davis 79

Harold Belote 79

Harry Layden 79

Larry Griffith 80

Ken Guinn 80

Rick Sorrell 80

Gary Apon 80

James Dempsey 80

A.J. James 81

John Martfield 81

Ray Arnold 82

David Gibson 82

Shannon Burasco 82

Chris Knodle 82

Brian Testerman 82

Jack Lasey 82

James Nutt 84

Pat McAnally 84

John Riley 84

Jason Landers 84

Jimmie Christie 85

Nolan Richardson 85

Dave Johnson 85

Chris Meyers 85

Dave Brown 86

Michael Loos 86

Phil Lewis 86

Scotty Pierce 87

Gary Adams 88

Don Eichenberger 88

Danny Watson 88

Joe Hart 89

Job Branch 89

Peter Jetty 90

Barry Ridings 90

Bobby Callaway 91

Justin Jorgenson 92

Charlie Barnes 95

Kenny Landers 95

Nathan Ferrell 95

Luke Lewis 95

Aaron Bewley 99

Bob Dahlem 100