Topekans Piles, Falley in contention

By Austin Meek

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

MANHATTAN - Brian Walker knew his golf game might be a little rusty after a three-week class trip to Germany.

He also knew the forests of Stagg Hill Golf Club aren't the ideal place to work out the kinks in your swing.

All things considered, Walker didn't have any lofty expectations for this week's Kansas Junior Amateur Championship, which features more than 100 Kansas golfers in five age groups.

"I figured I'd shoot 85 or so, just because I haven't played in a long time," Walker said.

The Hayden product managed to surpass his own expectations, though he still wasn't completely satisfied with the second-round 79 he carded Wednesday. Sitting at 1-over through 12 holes, Walker was 6-over par on his final six, including a three-putt for a double- bogey on No. 17.

"I hit the ball pretty good," he said. "I just had a double and a triple (bogey) today, just a couple inconsistent holes. I'm not making as many birdies as I usually do."

Riley Piles, Walker's Hayden teammate, had a similar lament.

Piles carded a 77 Wednesday after firing a 2-under 70 in the opening round.

"I couldn't do anything," Piles said. "I putted horribly, and my iron game was bad. I've been working on it this year, but it isn't where I want it to be yet. Putting is what saved me this year, and I didn't putt very well today."

That, Piles said, was the difference between an outstanding opening round and a disappointing second day.

"I had seven more putts than I did yesterday, and I had seven more strokes than I did yesterday," he said. "I hit a lot less fairways. I was in the trees a lot today."

Even so, Piles and Hayden teammate Brandon Falley remain within striking distance heading into today's final round. Both players recorded a two-day score of 147, five strokes behind co-leaders Ben Lowman of Manhattan and Markus Hilger of Garden Plain.

Topekans Ben Moser and Christian Bechard turned in two-day scores of 152, while Walker and Washburn Rural's Trey Siegel sit at 156.

Josh Beam (80-77-157), Patrick Shaw (78-81-159), Nicholas Agnew (79-81-160), Alex McDonald (81-83-164), Robert Carlson (84-81-165) Ronnie McHenry (83-82-165) and Kurt Walker (87-82-169) round out the list of Topekans at the competition.

Austin Meek can be reachedat austin.meek@cjonline.com.

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