The University of Florida alumnus had seven birdies and one bogey in the opening round of the NGA Pro Golf Tour's Milton Martin Honda Classic en route to a 6-under 65 and the clubhouse lead. Alexander, who won the Killearn Country Club Classic earlier this season, was one stroke ahead of the gaggle of golfers tied for second when play was suspended on Thursday evening.
Randall Hutchison (Traverse City, Mich.), Chas Narramore (Kingston, Tenn.), T.J. Bordeaux (Tacoma, Wash.), Bo Hoag (Upper Arlington, Ohio), Scott Weatherly (Fort Payne, Ala.) and David Dragoo (Carefree, Ariz.) were also able to finish their rounds, following a severe weather delay midday. All six were able to navigate the 6,973-yard course in 66 strokes and finished the day tied for second at 5-under par.
Venezuelan Alfredo Adrian carded a 4-under 67 in the opening round to end the day solo ninth, while Daniel Stone (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Zach Sucher (Mobile, Ala.), Jack Newman (Des Moines, Iowa) and Marion Dantzler (Orangeburg, S.C.) finished with 3-under 68s and were T10 when play was suspended.
Georgia resident Billy Shida (Duluth) got off to a solid start in his home state. The Georgia College alumnus overcame a double bogey on the second hole of the day to finish with a 2-under 69 and tied for 14th with Paul Apyan (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Tyler Dice (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Mike Stern (Miami, Fla.) and Joseph Kinney (Antioch, Ill.).
Local Gainesville native Jim Foote is making the most of his first NGA Tour start. The amateur golfer shot a 1-under 70 in the opening round and was tied for 19th with Eric Atsma (Caledonia, Mich.), Ian Hessels (Stillwater, Minn.), Andrew Ruthkoski (Muskegon, Mich.) and Canadian Marc-Etienne Bussieres when play was halted.
Jimmy Lloyd of Clermont shot an even-par 71 after the first round. Buford's Tim Weinhart was 1-over; Ryan Chitwood of Alto was at 2-over; and Dawsonville's Blake Palmer and Flowery Branch's Steve Hooper finished at 3-over par after the opening round.
Over half the field failed to complete the first round after the midday delay. Those players will restart at 8:30 a.m. on Friday and the second round will begin at 9:45 a.m. As usual, admission is free to the public.
The NGA Pro Golf Tour is the No. 3 Men's Professional Golf Tour in the United States after the PGA and Nationwide Tours and is the No. 1 recommended developmental tour by more PGA and Nationwide Tour Professionals.
The NGA has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA, Euro, Nationwide, and Champions Tour cards. In fact, NGA alumni have won an incredible Fourteen (14) "Major" Championships.
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