Intense heat didn’t stop full fields of golfers from playing the first round of the Greenville and Spartanburg County championships.

The thermometer was in the middle 90s at both the Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg and Fox Run Country Club in Simpsonville.

Zach Phillips leads Spartanburg County Am

In Spartanburg, Zach Phillips had an early tee time and beat some of the heat as he finished his round with the best score of the day, a 6-under par 66.

Two golfers are tied for second place, one shot behind Phillips.

Andrew Hall birdied five holes on his back nine to tie Dan Constantino for second.

Constantino got to 5-under on the strength of a birdie – birdie – eagle finish for his 67.

Spartanburg County Amateur scores https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/9375931183415741038

Briggs leads Greenville County Am

At Fox Run, Zander Briggs, shaved seven shots off par to take the first round lead in Greenville over Sam Norris.

The USC Upstate golfer shot a 65 to hold a 2-shot lead over Norris and a 3-shot margin over Zach Bostic.

The Greenville championship includes a tournament within a tournament as the County Senior title is being contested at the same time.

Yancy Johnson, the 2016 Greenville County Amateur Champion, has the lead in the Senior competition.

Johnson shot a 5-under par 67 to hold a 1-shot lead over 2013 Greenville County Amateur champion Todd Hendley.

Scores from the Greenville County Am https://greenvillecga.bluegolf.com/bluegolfw/greenvillecga23/event/greenvillecga235/contest/21/leaderboard.htm

Gallman is back in amateur competition

The Spartanburg championship welcomed back a familiar golfer to the amateur ranks as Josh Gallman teed it up in a county tournament for the first time since playing in a Cherokee County amateur when he was a teen.

Gallman became the all-time money winner on the Carolina Mountain Pro Tour after finishing his much honored college career at USC Upstate.

The USC-Upstate Hall of Fame golfer had his amateur standing returned in January and has played in a few tournaments since then.

“I’d like to play more, but with work and a couple of young boys who play baseball, playing in a tournament isn’t a top priority,” he said.

Gallman placed 11th in the early Spring CGA Mid-Am at The Cliffs at Mountain Park and has played in a weekend tournament or two.

After playing most of his golf in recent years as a professional, Gallman can see a difference between playing as an amateur and as he once did as a professional.

“I guess it is mostly in the preparation. When you are playing as a professional you focus on playing and practice to win the golf tournament. Playing amateur golf again I still want to win when I play, but it isn’t the only focus in my life,” he said.

Gallman’s Friday round at Carolina had him hanging around 2-under par for much of the day,. He had lost a couple of shots and was even par coming to the final hole at Carolina.

Gallman eagled the par-5 finishing hole to get back to 2-under par and in a tie for 10th with four other golfers.