Teeing off at the first hole, in the first group, at your home course to start a USGA tournament could be stressful to some, but two former New Jersey high school golfers of the year took it in stride Saturday. Morristown senior and Notre Dame commit Liam Pasternak, the NJSIAA 2024 boys golf individual champion, and Georgetown sophomore Barnes Blake, a Westfield grad who won the ’22 T of C, shot a 4-under 66 to finish in a seven-way tie for sixth after the first round of stroke play at the 10th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Golf Championship at Echo Lake Country Club in Westfield. Stroke play continues on Sunday, with the top 32 from a field of 128 sides advancing to match play at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, starting Monday, May 19 through Wednesday, May 21. After a little bit of nerves on the first two holes to fall to 1-over, both regrouped and had three birdies to complete their front nine at 2-under. On the back nine, Blake and Pasternak each had birdies on both par 5s (11th, 12th holes) and Blake sealed the round with a birdie on the par 4, 428-yard 18th hole. “It was a really cool experience to tee off first to kick off the tournament. It was great to start out at Echo Lake and have such a large crowd supporting Liam and I,” said Blake, who concluded his sophomore season at Georgetown and was selected to the All-BIG EAST second team. “I felt like we played solid golf throughout the round. We started off the round strong lipping out for birdie on the first before making birdie on three, five and nine to make the turn at 2 under. Played the back nine solid as well and finished with a birdie on 18 to get us to -4. We played decent today but there are definitely some things I’d like to improve on for tomorrow. Only being two shots back, we would like to get into contention for medalist tomorrow.” On Sunday, both will tee off on the first hole at Plainfield CC at 10:24 a.m. Both golfers qualified last August by finishing in a three-way tie for first place with a 65 at New Jersey National Golf Club in Basking Ridge. Pasternak and Blake earned NJ.com Player of the Year honors as well in 2024 and ’22, respectively. Other New Jersey competitors included: Brad Tilley (Easton, CT) & Pat Wilson (Andover) (-1, 69); Max Bichsel (New York) & Thomas Urciuoli (Short Hills) (+2, 72); Alexander and David Hicks (Cape May Court House) (+3, 73); Thomas Collins, (Morristown) & Michael O’Connell (Mahwah) (+4, 74). Follow Sunday’s results HERE. The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now! Follow us on social: Facebook | Instagram | X (formerly Twitter) Lou Monaco can be reached at lmonaco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X: @loumonaco.