Friday, April 24, 1998 | 8:30 a.m.
The three professional golfers with Las Vegas ties were in agreement after playing their opening rounds of the Las Vegas Senior Classic at the wind-blown TPC at The Canyons:
"Thank God it's over."
Las Vegans Jim Colbert and Tom Storey and Boulder City resident Bud Allin caught a break in that they all teed off before 8:30 a.m. Thursday and got in at least a few holes before the winds picked up.
"We played seven holes without any wind and then it started picking up and we played the last seven in probably what everybody is going to play in," Colbert, who shot a 1-over-par 72 at The Canyons, said.
"I'm glad it's out of the way. I wish I had done a little better but with the guys taking the worst of it this afternoon here, I'm not going to be out of it."
Colbert actually played his best after the winds picked up. He started out with bogeys on three of the first four holes and birdied three of the next five to make the turn at even par. He had two birdies and three bogeys on the back nine, but blamed the bad holes on his putting.
"I played good in the wind, I just made a couple of mistakes early and missed a couple of putts," Colbert said. "I hit the ball very well, actually."
The same could be said for Allin, who carded an even-par 71 and tied for 12th going into today's second round. Allin had three birdies and three bogeys on a course he said doesn't suit his game.
"For me, on this course, I think that's my lowest score by 20 shots -- I don't play this course very well," Allin said. "I'm just glad the round is over. I don't know either course that well but this course just doesn't suit my shot.
"Par on this course for me is good -- real good. I putted real good today and hit a lot of good chip shots. I drove it fairly good ... my iron shots weren't real good but these greens are hard for me to get to with my shot."
Storey, the local pro who earned his way into the 78-player field through Monday's qualifier at The Canyons, fared the worst of the three.
After shooting a 1-under-par 34 on the back nine -- his first nine -- and sitting at 1 under through 12 holes, Storey played the final six holes in 6 over par and finished with a 76.
"I'm 1-under after (12) and I felt like I had a good chance at a birdie at the par-5 (fourth hole). I got it just left of the hole and I was up against the back of the bunker and didn't have a shot," Storey said. "I ended up making a six there and it went downhill from there.
"I finished 6-5-5-5-5-5 until I ran out (of holes). It was just horrible coming in, out of control. Up until then, I was in really good shape."
Storey said he couldn't blame the wind, which picked up midway through his round, for his troubles.
"The wind was very difficult -- but it wasn't that hard. I just got unlucky to be in the wrong position on a couple holes and that was that," he said.
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