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Bills� 71 good enough to lead locals By Don Hunt Fresh off a victory at the Medford City Championships, Brad Bills turned his attention to the Southern Oregon Golf Tournament on Tuesday. And not much changed. Bills fired a 1-under-par 71 on the outside course at Rogue Valley Country club to emerge as the first-day qualifying leader in the men�s regular division. The out-of-town golfers and all women qualify today, with match play beginning Thursday in the 71st annual tournament. Bills did nothing spectacular Tuesday but, as is his custom, he was as steady as a Mississippi River current. The scorecard numbers: 15 pars, two birdies, one bogey. Bills� round marked the third time in as many trips to a golf course that he has shot 1-under par. He had back-to-back 1-under rounds at Cedar Links last weekend during the city championships. "I hit all but a couple greens and didn�t get into a lot of trouble," said Bills, a former champion and two-time runner-up at the Southern Oregon tourney. "I could have scored a little better but I didn�t convert a couple of birdie opportunities on the par-5s." Bills wasn�t the least bit confident his 71 would hold up for medalist honors, and that suited him just fine. "The medalist rarely win this tournament, anyway," he said. Bills reached the clubhouse one shot in front of Brett Breeze and Kevin Klabunde, both of whom shot 72, and two in front of Eric Austad�s 74. David Kaplan, Dave Schoenmann, Glen Clark and Kelly Owen all carded 76s. Klabunde easily could have shot in the 60s but missed several short putts and suffered a double bogey on the 350-yard, par-4 15th hole. "I almost always hit an iron off the tee on that hole but today I hit my driver � big mistake," Klabunde said. The shot sailed to the right and Klabunde then clipped some tree limbs on his approach shot, leaving it short. He sculled his third shot across the green, chipped back on and two-putted for double bogey. Klabunde, 46, was the men�s regular division runner-up in 1991 and �92. He moved on to the junior-senior category a couple years later and claimed titles in �96 and �98. Why the switch back? "I still think I can compete with these young guys," he said, ��and it�s my goal to win all three divisions (regular, junior-senior and senior). "It�s a grind (in the regular division) and some of these young guys hit the ball a ton. But I�ll see if I can hang with them for the rest of the week." Breeze, meanwhile, is hoping for a breakthrough year in his seventh tourney appearance. He has yet to advance past the second round of match play. "If I can play like I did today then maybe I can win a few matches," said Breeze, who is battling a rotator cuff injury that will require surgery once the tournament is over. Defending champion Tommy Smith is automatically seeded No. 1 and doesn�t need to qualify, but he played the course just the same Tuesday and carded a 69, the best score of the day. "I drove the ball well today and when I can do that then this course becomes a lot easier for me to play," Smith said. Smith�s putting was a bit off � he three-putted the 11th and 18th greens � further illustrating his excellent wood and iron play. In the junior-senior division, Greg Miller led the way with an even-par 72. David Boals and George Mack, Sr. each had 73s and Keith Volk fired a 75. John Dunkin topped the seniors with a 74. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA