When Michael Garretson shot a 64 to win a qualifier for the recent Dogwood Invitational, he was convinced his game was close to moving to the next level. He flashed a little bit of that again Friday, shooting a 4-under 68 to take the second-round lead at the Georgia Amateur Championship.
Garretson is at 6-under 138 after 36 holes at Ansley Golf Club-Settindown Creek in Roswell. He holds a one-shot advantage over Lee Knox of Augusta, the 2010 champion who held a share of the first-round lead. Knox shot 70 and stands at 5-under 139, one stroke better than Scott Weeks of Savannah, another first-round co-leader, who shot 71.
There are 19 players at par or better and there are 57 players within 10 shots of the leader. Play was stopped twice for weather delays Friday and did not resume after players were called off the course at 5:06 p.m. The second round will resume at 7:30 a.m. and the field will be cut to the low 70; the third round will start at noon.
Garretson, a graduate of Harrison High School, just finished his freshman season at South Alabama.
"Thursday I had a few chances to go low and didn't do it," said Garretson, who shot a 70 on Thursday. "Today I was able to take advantage."
Garretson birdied each of Settindown's four par 5s, twice getting up and down from the rough. He chipped and putted well throughout the round.
"I was putting the ball pretty good," he said. "And when I missed the green I was able to chip up to about 5 feet, and I knew I could make those."
Knox ran into some trouble on the front nine, with four bogeys over a five-hole stretch that dropped him to par for the tournament. Things began to turn around at the 17th, where he rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt, the first of four consecutive birdies.
"I finally found my rhythm," Knox said. "That carried over to the rest of my game. I just needed something to give me a little confidence."
Robert Sheats of Atlanta, the other co-leader, shot 74 and is tied for ninth at 1 under.
Matching Garretson's 68 was Ridge Purcell of LaGrange. Purcell bounced back nicely from an erratic opening-round 74, which saw his final nine include three bogeys, one double bogey and two birdies. He was consistent Friday, avoiding bogeys and carding two birdies on each side.
Purcell is bunched in a four-way tie for fifth at 2-under 142 with veteran Matt Russell of Dunwoody, Chris Waters of Athens and Billy Mitchell, the two-time defending Georgia Public Links champion who was runner-up last year. Jimmy Banyas of Duluth is in fourth place at 3 under, but had not completed his second round.
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