Jonathan Bale made three birdies on the back nine and shot a 1-over par 71 in the first round of stroke-play qualifying of the 101st annual George Arthur Crump Memorial Tournament at Pine Valley.
Bale, a resident of Jupiter, Florida, leads a logjam of players two strokes off the pace that includes Chadd Slutzky of Deer Park, Illinois, Drew Kittleson of Scottsdale, Arizona, Gregor Orlando of Haverford, Pennsylvania, Andrew Bailey of Shaker Heights, Ohio, U.S. Walker Cupper Stewart Hagestad of Hermosa Beach, California, Chris Wheeler of Lewisville, Texas, and Chad Wilfong of Charlotte, North Carolina. Defending champion Bobby Wyatt has his work cut out to make match play after opening with 77.
A trio of past senior champions lead the Senior Division
at 74. Michael McCoy of Norwalk, Iowa, Jamie Slonis of Sewell, New Jersey, and Tommy Brennan of Covington, Louisiana finished two strokes better than defending senior champion Bob Royak of Alpharetta, Georgia.
The Open division has 78 players competing for 48 spots in match play while 21 senior players are contending for 16 spots.
The Crump Cup is arguably the premier mid-amateur tournament in the United States. Pine Valley is ranked second in the latest Golfweek's Best Classic Courses list.
Pine Valley Golf Club will not be open to the public for Sunday’s final match of the 2026 Crump Memorial Tournament as had been the case pre-COVID.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Jonathan Bale grabs lead at 101st Crump Memorial
