Van Fossen still standing atop ZDGA leaderboard

• Sixteen-year-old Dylan Van Fossen shot 75 but still holds a five-shot lead at the ZDGA Amateur.
• Eighteen players shot 80 or higher in hard, windy conditions at Vista Golf Course.
• Final round play begins at 11 a.m. today at Zanesville Country Club.

ZANESVILLE – Nothing came easy on Saturday for the golfers at Vista.

But Dylan Van Fossen’s early adjustments made it manageable.

Van Fossen took a six-shot lead into the second weekend of the of the 37th annual Zanesville District Golf Association Amateur.

He left with a five-shot advantage at 215 after scraping out a 4-over-par 75 on a day when 18 players shot 80 or higher in extreme dry and breezy conditions.

Van Fossen, 16, is bidding to become the youngest ZDGA Amateur champion in tournament history. He is entering his junior season at John Glenn.

Van Fosssen leads McConnelsville’s Joe Lemon, whose 71 tied Ryan Harmon for the day’s lowest round and left him at 220.

Newark’s Sean Thomas is third at 222 after shooting 76, while Zanesville’s J.J. Mickey (75) is at 223 and Zanesville’s Zack Forker, who had 80, at 228.

The top 30 and ties advanced to today’s final round at Zanesville Country Club.

“Zanesville Country Club is more like what I’ve been playing all summer, so I think that will help me,” Van Fossen said.

Many players compared Saturday’s conditions to that of links style, where hard conditions forced players to play their approach shots short of the green.

Many short iron shots wouldn’t hold the greens.

“My first iron shot of the day on No. 1 I hit one 12 feet from the hole and rolled about 10 yards off the green,” Van Fossen said. “It was just hard to get anything close. Shots you normally hit into greens were rolling by the hole.”

Van Fossen wasted no time in changing his game plan. He wound up making five bogeys — four on the back nine — but he avoided disastrous mistakes that could have erased the distance between he and the close competition.

It became even more important after Lemon came in with a low round.

“I feel really good. I think I can get a lot more shots close (at Zanesville Country Club) and give myself better positions to make birdies,” Van Fossen said.

Lemon, who will play in the ZDGA Seniors this weekend, closed his front nine with a pair of birdies. He made nothing worse than a bogey on the back.

“Believe me I’m as surprised as anyone,” Lemon said. “I certainly didn’t expect it. I’m old for God’s sake.”

Like Van Fossen, he took a links style approach to the course.

“I just tried to keep the ball in the front of the greens and let them roll on, because I thought they would be hard and fast,” Lemon said. “On 16 I hit one too close with a 9-iron and it ran across. I thought it hit it pretty solid.”

Lemon is a veteran of tournament golf, having participated in several ZDGA and Ohio Golf Association events statewide, but being near the top of the leaderboard is a different element.

“I’m sure I’ll be nervous. I’m old and shaky,” Lemon said. “Zanesville Country Club is always a challenge.”

Play begins at 11 a.m. today. The public is welcome.

sblackburn@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

740-450-6723

Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR