San Diego County Open Golf : Bobby Johnson Takes Early Lead

Bobby Johnson, a pro from Palm Desert, had the day’s best round, an eight-under-par 64, on the Monte Vista course Thursday, the opening day of the Stroh’s San Diego County Open at the Cottonwood Golf Club.

A tournament-record 283 golfers, more than 200 of them professional, turned out for the four-day tournament, being held on the Ivanhoe and Monte Vista courses at Cottonwood.

The tournament, which is in its 58th year and which previously has attracted mostly local players, has expanded. This year’s field is up from 208 last year.

Of the 142 golfers who played on Monte Vista, the easier of the two courses, 82 broke par. Johnson made eight birdies and 10 pars. He birdied four of five par-3 holes.

Today, in the second round, Johnson will play the par-73 Ivanhoe course, which yielded 56 sub-par rounds Thursday.

After Johnson, six golfers are a stroke back at 65, and 12 more are two shots back at 66. All of these scores came on the Monte Vista course.

Tops on Ivanhoe Thursday was a group of three at six-under 67. The group included Lon Hinkle, who won the 1979 Bing Crosby Pro-Am and 1979 World Series of Golf; Pat Weishan of UC San Diego, who is the 1987 NCAA Division III champion, and Solana Beach’s Jeff Hart. Defending champion Bryan Gorman of Chula Vista shot a two-under 70 at Monte Vista Thursday.

Hinkle, who makes his residence in Santee, opened his round Thursday with a birdie on the first hole and an eagle on the second. He also birdied 7, 8 and 9 to go five-under on the front nine.

“I pretty much just stubbed my toe the rest of the way,” he said.

Hinkle made seven consecutive pars on the back nine before a birdie at the par-5 17th. He was on the green in two there, but missed a 10-foot putt for eagle.

After today, everybody will have played a round on both courses, and the tournament should begin to take shape.

“Yeah, it’s certainly too early to tell much,” Hinkle said. “We’ll know more after (today).”