Jul. 19—Spokane’s Andrew Von Lossow and University of Idaho’s Dalton Dean led a strong showing by area amateurs in Friday’s opening round of the 37th Rosauers Open Invitational.
Von Lossow and Dean each birdied all three par-5s and carded 6-under-par 65s at Indian Canyon Golf Course to move to the top of a crowded leaderboard. Amateur Nate Plaster, who completed his senior season at Washington State in the spring, is one of six players trailing the co-leaders by one stroke.
Von Lossow, who won the 2023 Spokane City Championship and reached the round of 32 at the 2022 U.S. Amateur, was 2 under after a bogey on No. 11 before closing out the round with birdies on Nos. 12, 14, 15 and 18.
“My dad, Jim, was caddying for me and we just wanted to keep it slow and smooth,” Von Lossow said. “A long way to go but a nice start. You have to hang on to your hat playing the Canyon.”
Dean, who recently finished his junior season at Idaho, had a clean scorecard with six birdies and no bogeys. Dean, from Lynnwood, Washington, played two years at Bellevue College before transferring to UI.
Plaster, who played on a State 4A championship team at Gonzaga Prep, also had a bogey-free round. He made birdies on Nos. 2, 7, 11, 16 and 18.
Brian Thornton, a former Eastern Washington Eagle and 2017 PGA Pacific Northwest Section player of the year, Brian Baltzer, Shane Prante, David Brown and John Eisentrout joined Plaster with 66s.
Five players shot 4-under 67, including Manito Golf and Country Club pro Gordon Corder, 2012 Rosauers champion David Phay and amateur Matthew Durkin, a G-Prep product and rising junior at Whitworth.
North Idaho College golf coach Russell Grove, Manito’s Carlos Davila Castillo, 2005 Rosauers champ Ryan Benzel and Jesse Wingett of the Highlands (Post Falls) are among six players to open with 68s.
Nineteen players shot 2-under 69, including past champions Daniel Campbell (2022), Colin Inglis (2021), Rob Gibbons (1991) and Community Colleges of Spokane golf coach Corey Prugh, the tournament’s only four-time champion.
Von Lossow, Grove and Tyler Carlson, pro at Quail Ridge in Clarkston, tee off on No. 10 at 7:57 a.m. and Dean is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on No. 1 in Saturday’s second round. The 54-hole tournament, one of five majors on the Pacific Northwest Section, concludes Sunday.
