Golfer buys lunch for tournament volunteers after low opening round at Wichita Open
There’s an unwritten rule in golf that suggests you should purchase a gift for your playing partners whenever you make a hole in one.
Most of the time, it’s drinks in the clubhouse. Sometimes, it’s food at a nearby restaurant. On some occasions, it’s something even grander.
Alas, there is no such unwritten rule for when a golfer puts back-to-back eagles on his scorecard. Even though that is arguably a more impressive accomplishment than one excellent (and often lucky) shot on a par 3, no presents are expected afterward.
That didn’t stop Taylor Moore from honoring the achievement, though. Moore, a former Arkansas golfer who now lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, purchased gifts for tournament volunteers at the Wichita Open on Thursday when he carded consecutive eagles on his way to an opening round 63 that gave him an early lead at Crestview Country Club.
Shortly after Moore finished his round, he ordered eight pies from Ziggy’s Pizza and distributed them to tournament workers across the golf course. Moore even thanked reporters for interviewing him after the round and sent a cheese pizza to the media room. Turns out he had a hole in one at his last tournament and didn’t get an opportunity to properly celebrate it because it happened on a Friday when he found out he missed the cut. If he angered the golf gods, he hopes this will appease them.
“I’m taking some pizzas to everyone,” Moore said. “I didn’t have a chance to get it to them two weeks ago, because the truck was so far out there and I missed the cut, so I wasn’t around on the weekend. I’m about to go hook up everyone with a snack, if anyone wants one.”
He had an early tee time, so his food order was set to arrive during lunch. Things couldn’t have worked out any better.
His biggest worry walking off the final hole: What toppings should he choose?
“I’m a meat guy,” Moore said. “Give me all the meat — Canadian bacon, pepperoni, sausage. Pineapple, I don’t mind it ... I just like to take care of these guys because they do so much for us.”
Moore’s ace came from 144 yards away at the REX Hospital Open in Raleigh, North Carolina. He hit a pitching wedge. It was the second one of his life.
Something else rare happened for him on Thursday shortly after he made the turn and began playing the front nine (he started on No. 10). He reached the green in two shots on the par 5 second hole and then drained a putt for eagle. That dropped him to 5-under par for the day. All he needed from there was a string of pars for a special day. But he backed it up with another eagle by driving the par 4 third hole and then sinking a 40-foot putt for a deuce. Suddenly he was 7-under par and the leader on the course.
It looked like he might flirt with the course record when he birdied the following hole, but he played his final four holes at 1-over par and had to settle for a 63.
That wasn’t enough for him to hold sole possession of the lead. Kevin Lucas matched his 63 about an hour later when he birdied five of his final nine holes to finish at 7-under.
“I hit it close. I hit it to about four feet on 10 and made birdie. I almost had a hole-in-one on 12. I hit it to two feet on the next hole,” Lucas said. “I was just hitting it close. The closer you hit it the easier it is to make putts. The closer you hit it, the looser you are with your putter. It goes hand in hand. When you start hitting it better, you start putting it better.”
Nearly half the tournament field was still on the course when Moore and Lucas called it a day. Both of them hoped their strong first rounds would keep them atop the leaderboard, but they also both admitted they wouldn’t be surprised if someone posted a lower round.
In any case, they positioned themselves well for the rest of the week. It was a day worth celebrating with pizza.
“It’s great,” Moore said. “It gives me an opportunity to be in the mix on Sunday. It’s an awesome start.”
Korn Ferry Tour Wichita Open Cox Business Pro-Am
Wednesday, at Crestview Country Club
1. Professional: Paul Haley II; Amateurs: Blake Harmon, Jeffrey Westmeyer, Patrick Looney, Scott Hefner, 49.
2. Max McGreevy; David Wheeler, Paul Hoover, Craig Burns, Brad Mitchell, 49.
T3. Jared Wolfe; Mike Morgan, Mark Tucker, Larry Steelman, Brad Elliott, 50.
T3. Ben Kohles; Frank Lichtlin, Bill McCormick, Jamie Weidman, Chris Hoose, 50.
T3. Rhein Gibson; Troy McClaren, Brian Morton, Brady Ayala, Hank Darcey, 50.
T3. Curtis Thompson; Terry George, Mark Suchinski, Bill Brown, Chris Moody, 50.
T3. Trey Mullinax; John Shawver, Trent McKenzie, Scott Hatchett, Chris Majors, 50.
T3. Tom Whitney; Jeff Hohnbaum, Aaron Drake, Tim Caudle, Luke Newman, 50.
T3. Brett Coletta; Rick Bloom, Brent Wasson, Michael Mueller, Larry Walty, 50.
T3. John Chin; Tory Arnberger, Jason Coe, Pete Meitzner, Brian O’Connor, 50.
T3. Theo Humphrey; Mike Howell, Jeff Davison, Mike Moore, Kellie Cooper, 50.
Korn Ferry Tour Wichita Open tee times
Thursday-Friday, in Wichita
At Crestview Country Club, par 70
HOLE 1
6:55 a.m.: Curtis Thompson, Ben Kohles, Marcelo Rozo
7:05 a.m.: Nelson Ledesma, Joey Garber, John Chin
7:16 a.m. Chase Wright, Martin Piller, Nicholas Thompson
7:26 a.m.: Scott Gutschewski, Brandon Harkins, George Cunningham
7:37 a.m.: Brett Stegmaier, Steve LeBrun, Drew Weaver
7:47 a.m.: Brett Drewitt, Ollie Schniederjans, Theo Humphrey
7:58 a.m.: Chip McDaniel, Chase Johnson, Jake Knapp
8:08 a.m.: Erik Barnes, Dawson Armstrong, Shad Tuten
8:19 a.m.: Jonathan Hodge, Stuart Macdonald, Garett Reband
8:29 a.m.: Brad Brunner, Matt Ryan, Robby Ormand
8:40 a.m.: Max Rottluff, Chandler Blanchet, John Somers
8:50 a.m.: Taylor Dickson, Mickey DeMorat, Austin Eckroat
9:01 a.m.: Mason Overstreet, Luke Schniederjans, Charlie Hiller
12:15 p.m.: David Kocher, Kyle Reifers, Kevin Dougherty
12:25 p.m.: Seth Reeves, Tommy Gainey, Jamie Arnold
12:36 p.m.: Brady Schnell, Sam Saunders, Taylor Moore
12:46 p.m.: Jamie Lovemark, Justin Lower, Greg Yates
12:57 p.m.: Trey Mullinax, Dan McCarthy, Jonathan Randolph
1:07 p.m.: Carl Yuan, Wade Binfield, Sean O’Hair
1:18 p.m.: Xinjun Zhang, Grant Hirschman, Nicolas Echavarria
1:28 p.m.: Trevor Cone, Michael Arnaud, Ryan McCormick
1:39 p.m.: Callum Tarren, Alex Chiarella, Shane Smith
1:49 p.m.: Zach Wright, Will Cannon, Bobby Bai
2 p.m.: Matt Atkins, James Nicholas, Andre Metzger
2:10 p.m.: John VanDerLaan, Patrick Flavin, Kevin Yu
2:21 p.m.: Gregor Main, Christopher Petefish, Quade Cummins
HOLE 10
6:55 a.m.: Michael Gellerman, Billy Kennerly, Brett Coletta
7:05 a.m.: Tyson Alexander, Alex Prugh, Joshua Creel
7:16 a.m. Roberto Díaz, Andres Gonzales, John Oda
7:26 a.m.: Zecheng Dou, Spencer Levin, Charlie Wi
7:37 a.m.: Peter Uihlein, Julián Etulain, Steven Alker
7:47 a.m.: Jared Wolfe, Kyle Jones, Blayne Barber
7:58 a.m.: Whee Kim, Vince India, Nick Hardy
8:08 a.m.: Mark Blakefield, Nick Voke, Cyril Bouniol
8:19 a.m.: David Skinns, Braden Thornberry, Brent Grant
8:29 a.m.: Harrison Endycott, Patrick Fishburn, Steve Lewton
8:40 a.m.: Max Greyserman, Kevin Roy, Harry Hall
8:50 a.m.: Justin Hueber, Alex Kang, Mark Baldwin
9:01 a.m.: Andy Spencer, Ethan Marcus, Derek Chang
12:15 p.m.: Anders Albertson, Scott Langley, Chad Ramey
12:25 p.m.: Luke Guthrie, Paul Haley II, Tag Ridings
12:36 p.m.: Ryan Brehm, Rhein Gibson, Will Wilcox
12:46 p.m.: Max McGreevy, Erik Compton, Brian Campbell
12:57 p.m.: Austin Smotherman, Tyrone Van Aswegen, T.J. Vogel
1:07 p.m.: Jimmy Stanger, Charlie Saxon, Brandon Crick
1:18 p.m.: Adam Svensson, Dawie van der Walt, Derek Ernst
1:28 p.m.: Daniel Miernicki, Lorens Chan, Zach Cabra
1:39 p.m.: Jack Maguire, Tom Whitney, KK Limbhasut
1:49 p.m.: Augusto Núñez, Rico Hoey, Stephen Franken
2 p.m.: Brad Hopfinger, Michael Miller, Chandler Phillips
2:10 p.m.: Conrad Shindler, Brian Richey, Kevin Lucas
2:21 p.m.: Matt Oshrine, Will Grimmer, Danny Guise
This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 2:59 PM.