Three Players Share Lead at Cape Breton Open

First Round Leaderboard (Bold denotes Canadian):

Blake Sattler – 66 (-6)

Jay Woodson – 66 (-6)

Cody Blick – 66 (-6)

Max Rottluff – 67 (-5)

Lee McCoy – 67 (-5)

Kaz Hoffman – 67 (-5)

Zach Foushee – 67 (-5)

Michael Gligic – 67 (-5)

 by Brian Decker

(August 31, 2017 – Baddeck, N.S.) – Alamo, California’s Cody Blick, Powhatan, Virginia’s Jay Woodson and New Philadelphia, Ohio’s Blake Sattler all shot rounds of 6-under 66 on Thursday at Bell Bay Golf Club to take the first round lead at the Cape Breton Open, the 10^th event of the 2017 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The trio all reached 6-under, just ahead of a group of five players at 5-under when play was suspended due to darkness at 7:47 p.m. One group was left to finish on the course with Round 1 set to resume at 8:15 a.m. Friday morning.

Blick, who recorded his best finish of 2016 with a T10 at last year’s Cape Breton Open, fed off friendly memories of Bell Bay to shoot 6-under and share the lead.

“It’s just the atmosphere in Baddeck here. The town’s so relaxing and welcoming, it’s great. I just love coming out here,” said Blick. “The course is gettable. You’ve got to hit it well, but then it’s gettable and I just feel at home when I come out here. Today, the putter just got hot, and it went from there.”

Woodson, who came into the week having missed the cut in all but one of his nine starts this year, found a spark with four birdies and an eagle on day one.

“Obviously the year hasn’t gone the way I would have liked, but sometimes when you have a lot of events bunched up together and you don’t have a lot of time off, it happens. I know how these things go and I’ve been playing for a long time, and sometimes you hit some rough patches and you’ve got to keep playing. It only takes one good shot or one good round to get some momentum going, and that’s all you can do,” said Woodson.

Sattler, who’s coming off his best finish of the season with a T10 finish at the National Capital Open to Support Our Troops, defied the early rainy conditions with a bogey-free day that included a closing birdie at the par-5 18^th.

“I got off to a good start in the rain. It was kind of sprinkling when we started, then it got windy and was a pretty good solid rain for a little bit, but I birdied the first hole and the third hole, and when I made the turn the skies kind of lightened up. I just kept it in front of me,” said Sattler.

Florida’s Lee McCoy, Germany’s Max Rottluff, Oregon’s Zach Foushee, California’s Kaz Hoffman and Ontario’s Michael Gligic were a shot off the lead at 5-under 67, while another 13 players were a stroke further behind at 4-under.

33-year old Blake Sattler is making his ninth career start on the Mackenzie Tour this week. The University of Akron alum earned status with a T29 finish at the British Columbia Q-School and ranks 29^th on the Order of Merit thanks to five top-25 finishes.

Sattler is coming off a T10 finish at the National Capital Open to Support Our Troops, where he shot a final round 64.

Jay Woodson is making his 10^th career start on the Mackenzie Tour this week. The 35-year old earned status with a T5 finish at the USA East #2 Q-School in April and has made one cut in nine events this year, a T38 at the Syncrude Oil Country Championship presented by AECON.

Woodson lettered in 5 sports and was All-State in Golf and Football while attending Powhatan High School in Powhatan, Virginia. Woodson attended James Madison University and won the Virginia State Amateur in 2002 and 2003, as well as the Virginia State Open in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016.

23-year old Cody Blick is making his 19^th career start on the Mackenzie Tour this week. Earlier this year, he shot a 10-under 60 at the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by Times Colonist and finished T3. Blick ranks 14^th on the Order of Merit with two top-3 finishes to his credit this year.

The San Jose State grad captured five wins while in college and was three times named a 1st team All-Conference member.

“I just want to win, to tell you the truth. I think that’s what every guy here out here wants to do every week. I was close in the early season and kind of flatlined there in the middle of the year, but I just want to win.” – Cody Blick on his goals for the rest of the season.

“It’s our first trip out here for both of us. We did some whale watching, and I played the Cliffs over at Cabot. I’m just kind of taking in the sights, and that’s pretty easy to do here.” – Blake Sattler on how he and his wife, Shalyn, are enjoying their first trip to Cape Breton this week.

“It’s different for everybody. For me, I just try to hit solid shots. You know it’s playing tough, and sometimes that takes some of the pressure off, knowing the conditions are tough. It kind of frees you up knowing you don’t have to hit it close and you just pick your spots.” – Jay Woodson on competing in rainy conditions.

“I was thinking about how I was feeling really good on Sundays. I’ve been playing some really good golf on Sundays, and I feel like I have a different level of focus and intention, and I wanted to bring that out on the Thursday.” – Max Rottluff on an opening 5-under 67.

“I’m just trying to cement a spot in The Five. It’s going to take a lot to get up to No. 1 and that’s not my goal right now. My goal is just to play as solidly as I can and just to make sure I’m going to have some (Web.com Tour) starts next year. I think at this point I’ve pretty much guaranteed myself a spot in the top-10, which is huge, but being somewhere in that top five would be a big bonus.” – Lee McCoy on an opening 5-under 67.