Tanabe's front-nine 28 at Aronimink gives him three-shot lead in Pennsylvania Amateur

   Christopher Tanabe has a state championship to his credit, the Bucknell junior having captured the 2016 PIAA Class AA title as a senior at Quaker Valley.

   After a spectacular front nine Tuesday at Aronimink Golf Club, the Donald Ross gem in Newtown Square, that included an opening eagle and five more birdies, Tanabe is in great position to add an even bigger state crown to his resume.

   Tanabe’s sizzling front-nine 28 led to a 7-under 65 that gave the Sewickley Heights Golf Club representative a 36-hole total of 6-under 134 and a three-shot lead over a Pennsylvania Amateur field brimming with talent. The Pennsylvania Amateur is presented by LECOM.

   It all began with an 8-iron approach to the par-4 first hole. Tanabe felt like he hit it good, but when he climbed the hill to the elevated green, he found it was better than good. It was in the bottom of the cup.

   “I don’t think I’ve ever holed out on my opening hole like that before,” Tanabe told the Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) website. “It was great to get off to a good start like that.”

   And, like the result of that opening approach shot at the first hole, the start kept getting better.

Tanabe rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole. A 9-iron at the fifth hole finished 10 feet from the hole and Tanabe made that putt. He bombed a drive on the seventh hole and a wedge from 60 yards ended up 15 feet from the hole and he rolled in that putt.

   Tanabe made the tough, par-3 eighth hole at Aronimink look easy as he fired a 5-iron to five feet and made the putt. At the par-5 ninth hole Tanabe was 65 yards away after a drive and a 4-iron. His approach ended up 10 feet away and he holed the putt for a remarkable 7-under 28 on the front nine.

   Tanabe couldn’t maintain that blistering pace and bogeys at the 16^th and 17^th holes dropped him back to 5-under for the round, but it was more than good enough to separate him from the field.

LedgeRock Golf Club’s Nate Menon, a redshirt sophomore at Stanford, had shared the opening-round lead with a 4-under 66, but fell back with a 1-over 71 to share second place with Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Zachary Barbin at 3-under 137.

   Menon, who beat out Tanabe to capture the 2015 PIAA Class AA crown as a junior at Wyomissing, also had a hole-out for an eagle on his scorecard in Tuesday’s second round. Menon’s 55-degree wedge from 125 yards away at the par-4 13^th hole found the bottom of the cup.

   Barbin, a junior at Liberty University and a member of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md., hit 15 greens in regulation in a sparkling 4-under 66 that enabled him to join Menon at 137. Barbin had opened with a 1-over 71 Monday.

   Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Will Davenport, who captured the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Middle-Amateur Championship at Rolling Green Golf Club in May, was alone in fourth place at 2-under 138 after adding a 1-over 71 to his opening-round 67.

   Virginia junior Max Siegfried, crowned the club champion at Aronimink Sunday, headed a group of five players tied for fifth place at 1-under 139. Siegfried, a scholastic standout at The Haverford School, added a 1-over 71 to his opening-round 68.

   Siegfried’s Inter-Ac League rival at Malvern Prep, Marty McGuckin, the 2015 Bert Linton Inter-Ac champion as a senior, joined him at 139. McGuckin, playing out of Philadelphia Cricket Club, also carded a 1-over 71 Tuesday after opening with a 68.

   Kansas State junior Kyle Vance, a two-time District One Class AAA champion at Methacton, added a 2-over 72 to his opening-round 67 to join the group at 1-under.

   Rounding out the quintet at 139 were Central Dauphin junior Garrett Engle, who came up just short of a U.S. Open berth in sectional qualifying in June, and Nemacolin Country Club’s Brett Young. Engle, playing out of the Country Club of Harrisburg, and Young each matched par with a 70 Tuesday after opening with a 69.

   Carlisle Country Club’s J.D. Hughes, who won the 2017 Pennsylvania Amateur at White Manor Country Club, headed a group of four players tied for 10^th at even-par 140. Hughes, who completed a solid career at Penn State in the spring, posted a 1-under 69 Tuesday after opening with a 71.

   Evan Brown, who starred scholastically at Kennett and won the Delaware Amateur last month at Maple Dale Country Club, fired a 2-under 68 Tuesday after opening with a 72 to also land at 140. Brown has continued to play well this summer after a strong finish to his sophomore season at Loyola of Maryland in the spring.

   Rounding out the foursome at 140 were Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Benjamin Cooley and Northampton Country Club’s Zachary Juhasz. Cooley added a 1-under 69 to his opening-round 71 while Juhasz cooled off after his opening-round 67 with a 3-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round.

   The cut fell at 7-over 147 and 42 players will be back at Aronimink Wednesday for the final round of the 54-hole championship.