When the starter announced Brendan Steele as being from Idyllwild, there was great applause from the many Hill residents following him today.
In addition to his wife, his parents and his Montreal Super Fans, Mike Ogle, who also had followed Steele yesterday, was joined by Sandii Castleberry, her boyfriend Vern Jaksch and his mother, Rusty Moorefield, Ron Kaufman, Joey Latimer, Diane (Olive) D'Arcy and her sister Pat McDonald and Steele's friend Greg Wells.
Steele followed up Thursday's 67 with a 32-36 – 68 on the Nicklaus Private course today, Friday. He is tied for 21st place as of this writing.
The highlight today was a magnificent eagle on the par 5 4th hole. Following a 322-yard drive, Steele mailed a four iron 10 feet to the right of the pen, then sank the putt for an eagle three.
On the par 4 12th hole, Steele's playing partner already had knocked his second shot within 8 inches of the pin. Steele followed with a second shot that hit even closer, spun back into his playing partner's ball, then came to rest only a foot from the hole.
Steele's new driving iron, which he used three times off the tee today, is a Callaway Apex muscle-back 2 iron. He told the Town Crier he had had it modified from the usual 18 degrees of loft to 20 degrees.
Steele tees off tomorrow, Saturday, from the 10th hole on the Palmer Private course at 10 a.m.
