VALDOSTA, Ga. ' Jason Blixt aced the eighth hole on Thursday en route to a 6-under-par 66 and the first-round lead of the South Georgia Classic.
Jeff Gove, Todd Demsey and Kevin Johnson share second place at 5-under 67 at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club.
Blixt was 1 under for his round after seven, thanks to a pair of birdies and a bogey.
Blixt’s ace came at the par-3 eighth. He hit a 6-iron at the 183-yard hole and played it to the center of the green to let the wind take it to the left flag location.
His ball landed four feet short of the cup, then hit the flagstick. Blixt watched, and heard, the ball hit and fall in for the hole-in-one.
‘It was loud, extremely loud,’ said Blixt. ‘We could hear it all the way at the tee box.’
The ace got Blixt to 3 under and a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-5 11th pushed him to minus-4. Blixt bogeyed the 12th, but after that, he was flawless.
At the par-5 14th, Blixt just missed the green in two. He chipped to a foot and tapped in for the birdie. Blixt closed with a pair of long birdie putts at 17 and 18 for the first-round lead.
‘I hit the ball solid all day,’ said Blixt. ‘I can’t complain about a 66 out here, but I left some shots out there. The thing is, you’re always going to leave shots out there, you just have to deal with it and move on.’
Jon Mills, Garrett Willis, Marco Dawson, Michael Sims, J.J. Killeen, Gavin Coles, Jay Delsing and Chris Nallen are tied for fifth place at 4-under-par 68.
Defending champion Bryan DeCorso shot an even-par 72 on Thursday and is part of a large group tied for 61st place.
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