EAST PROVIDENCE _ Unlike so many college golf All-Americans, Justin Suh is not in a rush to turn pro. It is only second on his priority list. Receiving a degree from Southern Cal is number one.

           "I was always set on graduating. It’s been a plan of mine since I was little," said Suh, who just finished his junior year at USC.

            Suh certainly looks ready to give pro golf a try. He was a first-team All-American for the Trojans this past season. And he is continuing his strong play into the summer, including a sparking 6-under-par 63 Wednesday in the opening round of the 57th Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett

        The performance was good enough to give Suh a tie for the lead with University of Cincinnati star Austin Squires.

        The college stars who dominate the 92-player field took advantage of a Chamber of Commerce perfect weather day and immaculate conditions at Wannamoisett to put up a lot of red numbers.

         Spencer Soosman, a Texas star, was tied for third at with LSU’s Jacob Bergeron. Soosman had his 4-under score despite a bogey on the 17th, the only par-5 on the course. Bergeron was the low score in the afternoon when winds picked up. He is coming in as one of eight players who tooko part in last week’s U.S. Open.

         Vanderbilt’s Will Gordon, Arizona’s David Laskin and Stanford’s Isaiah Salinda were next at 66.  Others under par included Cal-Berkeley All-American Collin Morikawa, the defending champion. He came in a 67 despite three late bogeys.

          While several of this year’s All-Americans already have turned pro, Suh is content to wait a bit longer before joining them.

          "I’m sticking out my senior year," he said. "There’s a possibility I might do Q-school during my senior year." For him, it is being able to compete that he enjoys, not necessarily trying to earn money.

           "I like to compete," he said. "I was at Sunnehanna last week (where he finished 11th). We compete a lot in college. We keep pretty busy. It’s just a matter of playing golf."

           His game is in such good shape that he did not feel he did anything special on the way to his 63. He had three birds on each side.

            "I played pretty solid. There was nothing going way up or down. I didn’t make any bogeys, which is nice," he said. "Nothing really big happened. I was just cruising."

          Squires, the only player to match Suh, also spoke about having a pleasant trip around the old Donald Ross-designed layout.

           "It was a fun day out there," he offered.  "The weather is beautiful. The course is in great condition. So it was good scoring conditions, perfect."

           Squires, who was the American Conference player of the year in 2017 for the Bearcats, started on the back and was even through seven. Then he birdied 17 and 18.

          "That gave me momentum," he said. "I was solid on the first three holes, which are tough, then I made birdies on four through six, three in a row. I had a really nice par save on seven, then birdied eight and parred nine." He hit the ball so well he did not need a special putting round.

          "I think the furthest putt I made was on 5, where I was 15 or 16 feet behind the hole," he said.  It all made for one of the best rounds of his life.

         "Two weeks ago I shot a 61 on my home course, Triple Crown Country Club (in Kentucky). That was a fun day," he said. "But as far as playing in a tournament, this is the best."

 

      TOURNAMENT NOTES

 

       Matt Parziale, the Brockton, Mass., fire fighter who tied for low amateur in last week’s U.S. Open, admitted he was exhausted after his hectic week and settled for a 72. LSU’s Luis Gagne, who tied Parziale for low am in the Open, matched par with a 69.

         Wannamoisett member Davis Chatfield, who is coming off an excellent freshman year at Notre Dame, was sailing along at 1-under through 15 before suffering an unlikely double bogey. The former Rhode Island Amateur champion took a six on the 345-yard seventh hole, the shortest par-4 on the course.

           "I had 85 yards to the green," Chatfield related. "I hit what I thought was a good lob wedge. It landed about 25 feet behind the hole, then spun back." The pin was right behind the false front that guards the green.

           "It spun all the way off the green and down the hill, about 30 yards from the hole," Chatfield said. He ended up needing four more shots to get the ball in the hole.

          As happens frequently, the Northeast is being contested at the same time as the California Amateur Championship. In past years, that has meant a limited number of Californians travelling across the country to play in the Northeast. However, the Northeast’s reputation as one of the best amateur events in the country is stronger than ever, as indicated by a glance at the leader board.

          Suh, one of the leaders, is from San Jose. Soosman (65) is from Westlake Village. Laskin (66) is from Elk Grove, Salinda (66) from South San Francisco, Clay Feagler (67) from Laguna Niguel, Joushua McCarthy (67) a Danville resident, and Morikawa (67), the defending champion, from La Canada Flintridge. Soosman, a semifinalist in the Cal Amateur last year, spoke about how it was not a tough decision on where to compete.

        "They didn’t invite me here last year," he said. "When they invited me this year I was happy to come."

        In all, 13 of the 92 contestants are from California.