Feenstra, Franklin hold edge after two rounds at Rosauers

It turns out there was another 62 out there. But not surprisingly, none of the three golfers who hit that impressive 9-under-par number during Friday’s opening round of the $135,000 Rosauers Open Invitational found it on Saturday. Instead, it was Tim Feenstra, an assistant pro at Seattle’s Broadmoor Golf Club, who matched the first-round 62s turned in by Darek Franklin, Jerry Johnson and amateur Chris Everson by putting together a bogey-free second round in the 24th annual Rosauers event that concludes its three-day run today at the 6,255-yard Indian Canyon Golf Course that is playing to a par of 71. Feenstra’s effort propelled him into a first-place tie with Franklin, an assistant at Willamette Valley Country Club in Canby, Ore., who shot a prophetic 68 to head into today’s final round with a 36-hole total of 12-under-par 130. Feenstra and Franklin will be joined in today’s final threesome, which tees off at 11:30 a.m., by Manito Golf and Country Club assistant pro and 2009 Rosauers champion Corey Prugh. Prugh tacked a second-round 66 onto the 65 he shot on Friday and is tied with Darren Black and Brian Thornton at 131, just one stroke behind the leaders. Amateur John Eisentrout is alone in sixth place at 132, followed by a cluster of six golfers – including past champion Casey McCoy – at 133. Johnson and Everson both failed to back up Friday’s low number with an under-par score and fell well back in the filed. Defending champion Kyle Kelly all but buried his chances of a second consecutive title by shooting an even-par 71 that left him in a seven-way tied for 31st – along with The Creek at Qualchan’s Mark Gardner and Deer Park’s Craig Schuh – at 138. The 28-year-old Feenstra, whose best Rosauers finish was a tie for fourth last year, jump-started his round by draining an 18-foot eagle putt on the 469-yard par-5 second and then birdied the next two holes to put him in the right frame of mind. “Obviously, getting to 4 under after four holes made me happy,” said the 2011 Washington Open champion, who missed a couple of makeable birdie putts on seven and eight before making birdie on the short par-4 ninth and turning in 5-under 30. “I had a lot of opportunities to make putts, which you need to do out here. You’re not going to make everything, but you need to get the putter hot, and I did.” Feenstra called the round a “polar opposite” of Friday’s, in which he made three bogeys and needed eagle-3s on the par-5 second and 12th holes to finish under par. “I didn’t hit the ball nearly as well on Friday as I did today,” he said. “I felt like I was in control of my golf swing today, and it showed.” Franklin also put together a much different round that he all but predicted following Friday’s 62, when he admitted how hard it was to go super low two rounds in a row and said he would be “completely satisfied” if he went out and shot 68 on Saturday. Franklin, who shook off a double-bogey 5 on the 161-yard, par-3 fourth, didn’t strike the ball quite as well on Saturday as he did on Friday. “But I made seven birdies, so I can’t be too pissed off,” he said. “I was actually pleased with the way I played. It was just one of those deals where I hit a couple of shots in spots where I could recover, and I made a couple of bogeys. “But I’m OK with that, because I didn’t expect to play bogey-free golf for 54 holes.” Neither Feenstra nor Franklin plan to change their make-a-bunch-of-birdies strategy heading into today’s final round as they try to hold off Prugh and host of other capable challengers. “This is my sixth year here, so I understand you can’t be cautious and try to hold onto a lead on this course,” Feenstra said. “You’ve got to got and make a lot of birdies. “Tomorrow, I’ll just try to get off to a good start and give myself opportunities, because I know they’re out there.” The 37-year-old Franklin plans to continue ignoring what the rest of the field is doing and concentrate on the only thing he can control – himself. “I’m just going to try to play my game, and, in the end, if I’m leading, that’s great,” he said. “One of my goals this year was to win a major (Northwest PGA) section event, and I’ve been fortunate to play well enough to give myself a chance. “We’ll just have to see what happens.”