Chase Bauer gave a fist pump as the 18-foot birdie putt dropped into the cup on the final hole of his round Monday afternoon.
Bauer, of Gotha, Fla., will take a one-stroke lead over Arjun Somani of Scottsdale, Ariz., into Tuesday’s final round of the 11-12 age division of the Press Thornton Future Masters golf tournament at the Dothan Country Club.
Bauer made the turn at 1-under and birdied holes Nos. 10, 11 and 12 before running into trouble on No. 14 with a double bogey. He bounced back with a birdie on 16 before finishing his round with the long putt for birdie on No. 18. Somani had somewhat of an up and down second round, but finished strong like was the case on Sunday when he made four straight birdies on the back nine .
“I went into the left bunker and was up against the lip and just had to punch out,” Somani said of the double-bogey. “From there, I hit into that bunker by the green and didn’t get it up and down from there, so that was a bit of a setback.”