It’s a tight leaderboard after the first day of championship flight play in the annual Santa Barbara Classic two-player, best-ball tournament at the par-70 Santa Barbara Golf Club.
Sixteen teams shot under par on Saturday, with the teams of John Gilles/Tyler Ley and Grady Smith/Mitchell Martin sharing the lead at 7-under 63.
The duo of Scott Helton/Brian Helton is one stroke back, and four teams are two shots off the lead. Among those is the father-son team of George Downing and soon-to-be San Marcos High freshman Austin. Also in the group is two-time reigning Santa Barbara City Champion and recent San Marcos alum Leo Metzger and Craig King.
The final round begins at 10:48 a.m., with the leaders teeing off at 12:45 p.m.
The 36-hole Santa Barbara Classic is traditionally played during the weekend of Old Spanish Days
In net flights, Dietrich Graumann/Vinnie Agapito lead the San Miguel Flight by three shots after a 7-under 63; Nick Hale/Tony Avian shot a 64 and lead the Santa Rosa Flight by one shot over two teams; Larry Rodriguez/Brian Minier are in first place in the Anacapa Flight, and Jo Payne/Marylou Ramos top the women’s Santa Barbara Flight.
Championship Flight Scores
John Gilles/Tyler Lee 63
Grady Smith/Mitchell Martin 63
Scott Helton/Brian Helton 64
Michael Quinonez/Bobby Schaeffer 65
George Downing/Austin Downing 65
Shane Lebow/Cameron Wilson 65
Craig King/Leo Metzger 65
Michael Montgomery/Warren Leahy 66
Paul Smith/Tom Volz 67
Bryce Holloway/Chong Kim 67
Chase Blossom/Zack Cram 67
Brett Patton/Taylor Oliver 68
Mark Davis/Max Angell 68
Isaac Stone/Preston Gomersall 68
Nicholas Pollero/Johnny Henno 69
TJ Schau/Ryan Sack 69
Michael Galsterer/Nick Rae 70
Ben Carter/Colin Wilcox 70
Ryan Todey/Adam Carter 70
Kevin Todey/Jake Today 76
Alec Constantinides/Mando Ortega 71
Andrew Damron/Nathan Fox 72
AJ Woronovich/Carlo Mazzillano 73
Jorgen Staal/German Sotelo 73
Callaway Winans/Rye Winans 76
James Tar/Jordan Schmid 77
Anthony Barbalinardo/Jacob Allman 95