Andrew Whalen takes first-round lead at Rosauers Open after 31 on back nine

MeadowWood’s back nine is generally considered tougher than the front. It didn’t work out that way for Andrew Whalen, but he didn’t mind one bit.

Whalen torched the back side in 5-under-par 31 en route to an 8-under 64 Friday to take the first-round lead of the 29th annual Rosauers Open Invitational. Former Eastern Washington Eagle Brian Thornton birdied his first four holes and shot a 65 to join amateur Joe Harvie in second place.

“Going in, I thought you really need to tear up the front and maybe get 1 or 2 under on back,” said Whalen, an Ephrata High product going into his senior year at Northwestern. “I got off to a slow start, but I hit some quality shots on the back.”

Whalen, who turned in 3 under, birdied No. 10. He blasted his drive on the par-5 12th, playing downwind on a breezy day, hit wedge to 7 feet and drained the eagle putt. He stuck approaches on 14 and 15 within 5 feet and made both putts.

Whalen, whose younger brother Aaron plays at Washington State University, was one of several collegians in the field to compete at the Trans-Miss tournament at Olympic Club earlier this week. He missed the cut and was able to fly out of San Francisco on Thursday morning. A few others, including WSU’s Derek Bayley (67) and former Ferris Saxon Eric Ansett (72) caught early flights Friday to Spokane.

“I’m going to try to do the same stuff (Saturday) as I did today,” said Whalen, who tied for 14th last year. “I had a lot of aggressive swings and I’m going to try to roll some putts in.”

Thornton, who teaches at Meridian Valley Country Club in Kent, Washington, couldn’t have had a better start. He birdied 1, 2, 3 and 4 with the longest putt covering 6 feet. His birdie putt on No. 5 stopped 2 inches short of the cup. He made a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 6. His 3 1/2-foot birdie putt on No. 7 slid by the right edge.

That’s how close Thornton was to being 7 under after seven holes. He got there eventually after holing out a chip for birdie on No. 18 to cap a bogey-free round.

“You can either hang on or say, ‘Let’s keep going,’ ” said Thornton, a 1998 EWU grad. “I kept reminding myself this is a marathon and there’s a lot of golf to be played. You can’t look forward, you can’t look back. That’s the challenge of golf from the mental side. You have to keep in the moment.”

Harvie, who plays for Seattle University, shot 7 under despite a bogey on the par-5 7th – one of the course’s easiest holes – and a double bogey on No. 11. The Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year in 2014-15 made eight birdies and an eagle on No. 12.

Harvie, who teed off in the morning session that faced the strongest winds, played the last seven holes in 6 under.

Hayden Lake amateur Reid Hatley and Tony Robydek, who won the 2014 Lilac City Open, were among four players to shoot 6-under 66. Bayley and Darren Black of Seattle’s Rainier Golf and Country Club, shot 67.

“I probably hit 17 greens in regulation,” Hatley said. “I didn’t really do too much wrong, besides a couple of sloppy drives. The wind was pretty bad almost the whole round. I bet it was blowing 25-plus for a while, probably a two-club wind. You just have to deal with it. Everybody has to deal with it.”

Tim Feenstra, the 2014 champion, former Manito head pro Steve Prugh and University of Idaho GC’s Loren Jeglum are among five tied for 10th after carding 68. Four-time champion Corey Prugh, an assistant at Manito, opened with a 70.