CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLF ASSOCIATION

None of them were Pierce Grieve (Lake Forest). Nonetheless, it’s the lanky lefty who holds a one-shot lead at 4-under through 36 holes of the 72-hole championship, as a second-straight 70 put him one stroke clear of a five-deep chasing pack.

Starting on the back nine, a birdie on the par-5 11th was immediately negated by back-to-back bogeys, leaving the West Virginia University rising senior to turn at 37. However, the brute who defines his game as “hit it as hard as I can go find it,” didn’t let the middling stretch derail his gameplan.

“It was tough out there,” Grieve admitted. “The wind kind of switches every hole, which is definitely a little tricky. You just have to stay patient and I think I did a good job of that today. I stayed out of trouble.”

Three straight birdies on Nos. 3-5 vaulted Grieve up the leaderboard. He drove the green on the 350-yard third and two-putted to kickstart the torrid stretch before “throwing a dart” to short-range on the 175-yard par-3 fourth. Another three on the brawny 450-yard fifth hole concluded the surge.

Grieve had “pretty much zero” experience with the Atkins layout before arriving for his first round on Tuesday, but he likes what he has seen and continues to fine-tune his approach.

“I think it fits my game great,” Grieve said. “It’s pretty wide open and long.

“[Tuesday] was my first day seeing [the course], so I feel like I played a lot more conservative,” he added. “After playing it, I was able to get a little more aggressive [today] at a lot of targets.”

Conversely, T.J. Barger (Bloomington), last year’s State Am runner up, considers Atkins “one of [his] home tracks.” Barger, who played one season at Illinois before transferring to Illinois State University, estimates he has played “25-40” rounds at Atkins. He utilized that familiarity - and a change in putter - to bounce back from an opening round 71 with five birdies through his first six holes on Wednesday to attain the -6 landmark.

“I think I had like two one-putts [Tuesday],” Barger lamented about his first round. “I hit a lot of greens, hit the ball really well, and just couldn’t make any putts inside 8-10 feet. The putter I put in the bag today, I’ve used in the past, so I’m comfortable with it.”

A double on the par-4 eighth derailed Barger’s momentum. However, a birdie at the last cemented his 2-under 70 and a spot in the final pairing for Thursday’s last two rounds, during which he hopes to rely on his familiarity to one-up last year’s second-place finish.

“I think I still have the advantage even though all of these guys have seen it already,” Barger said. “[Thursday], I have to come in with the gameplan I had today - just fire at pins.”

Tied with Barger at -3 entering Thursday’s finale are Ben Sluzas (Lockport), Quinn Clifford (Chicago), Marcus Smith (Rockford) and Mason Lewis (Edwardsville). One shot further back is Carter Stevenson (Marquette Heights), who followed up his opening-round 67 with a 3-over 75 on Wednesday. First-round leader Jason Gordon (Northbrook) sits at even-par after a 6-over 78 negated his 66 from Tuesday.

In total, 36 players made the cut, which came at +4.

The final pairing of Grieve and Barger will tee off at 8:21 a.m., with their second round set to commence at 12:51 p.m.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

Pierce Grieve (Lake Forest) on how the course played differently Tuesday to Wednesday…
“We’re definitely getting a little bit more roll out in the fairways and the greens were a bit quicker, especially downhill. I think it made it a little bit shorter, but definitely trickier on the surfaces.”

TJ Barger (Bloomington) on his 18th-hole birdie…
“Coming off 17, making a bogey, I hit a pretty unfortunate shot into the left bunker and gave myself a hard bunker shot. Going into 18, I hit a great shot off the tee that led me to a nice, easy wedge. I’m always comfortable having a wedge in my hand, and I hit one inside almost gimme range. That felt great.”

Ben Sluzas (Lockport) on combining with playing partner Barger to card nine birdies on the front nine…
“We were definitely feeding off each other. I’ve known him for a long time. It’s fun to be playing good golf with him and keep the energy going.”

Mason Lewis (Edwardsville) on how the back nine played differently than the front…
“With the wind today, you had some holes on the front nine, like No. 1, which is still a short par 5 even though it was into the wind, and then six is gettable. Three is gettable. There are just a lot of birdie holes on the front. It seemed like the way the wind was, there weren’t as many on the back. It seemed like on the back, you have to think your way through it a little better, not just driver on every hole.”

Mike Milligan (Bloomington) on playing in the State Am 50 years following his 1974 triumph…
“This will be my last State Amateur. Fifty years since I’ve won it, so they said, ‘Well why don’t you play in your 50th anniversary?’ So, I’m here. It’s tough…these kids hit 100-125 yards past me, or more. I just love the game. It’s just a great game and I enjoy playing.”

NOTABLES

• The scoring average for the second round Wednesday at Atkins was 76.77, in comparison to 76.64 for Tuesday's first round.
• The field carded five eagles on the day. Three of them came on the 559-yard par-5 sixth, which played as the easiest hole of the day with a scoring average of 4.88.
• Tuesday’s easiest hole, the 565-yard par-5 first, played to an average at over par (5.18). After seeing three eagles in round one, no threes were notched Wednesday.
• The most difficult hole of the day was the 424-yard par-4 16th, on which the field averaged 4.73 strokes. Only one birdie was made on No. 16, in comparison to 75 over-par scores.
• Two of the four players who call the Champaign-Urbana twin cities home made the 36-hole cut. David Keenan (Champaign) notched a 1-under 71 and sits T15 at +1 overall, while Lyle Burns (Champaign) is T18 at +2.
• Pledges from event competitors, supporters and CDGA corporate partners have raised $1,740 for the CDGA Foundation through the Better Through Birdies program. Michael Horvatic (Palos Heights) and Jake Guse (Rockford) are the top fundraisers.