A few hours before he teed off in Thursday morning's second round of the Southern Amateur Championship, Julian Perico awoke from a bad dream.
In the dream, Perico said he had missed his tee time because he showed up to the wrong tee box. Then, at 8:20 a.m. at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, his dream became a nightmarish reality.
Perico, a Lima, Peru, native and a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, was scheduled to tee off on No. 10 Thursday, after going off No. 1 during Wednesday's opening round. But as his 8:20 tee time approached, he had a mental lapse and inexplicably thought he was supposed to tee off No. 1.
He rolled putts and chatted with fellow Razorbacks teammate Wil Gibson on the practice green, which sits close to the No. 1 tee at the Founders Course, when, all of a sudden, someone came running toward the green and informed Perico that he was late on the No. 10 tee. Confused at first, Perico then quickly realized his catastrophic mistake.
He rushed over to No. 10 on the other side of the clubhouse and arrived 15 seconds late. Perico was dealt a two-shot penalty leading to a quadruple-bogey eight at the par-4 10th before bogeying the par-3 11th. But Perico still managed a 3-over 74 Thursday to just make the cut on the number at 3 over and sit in a tie for 56th place.
"I literally couldn't think because I was so disappointed and p* off," Perico recalled of his error after the round, as he stood just a few yards away from the practice green, the location of his mental blunder.
Perico currently sits nine shots off the lead. Texas A&M junior Walker Lee, who shot a 6-under 65 in the opening round, maintained his one-stroke advantage with an even-par 71.
"I didn't play very well today, but I kept [the lead]," Lee said. "The round could have gone a lot of different ways, but I kept it around even. Could have been better, could have been worse."
A total of 36 players sit at even par or better through the first two rounds. University of Washington junior Noah Woolsey, North Florida senior Michael Mattiace and ex-Central Florida star Kyler Tate each are tied for second at 5 under. Tate at one point held the lead at 7 under, but he made back-to-back bogeys on his final two holes.
Tate began this tournament 5 over through his first eight holes. He's gone 10 under since then, and he's a combined 10 under on the back nine alone in two days.
"I like the back nine a lot. The back nine is really similar to my home course back nine," said Tate, who grew up playing West Orange Country Club in Winter Garden, Fla. "I almost feel like I'm playing my home course on the back nine. The front nine, I think, is a little bit tougher."
As for Perico, despite the self-inflicted two-shot penalty and messy opening hole Thursday, he said he's still not out of the tournament -- so long as his body holds up.
Perico, who set the Razorbacks' freshman scoring average record this past season with a 71.54, said he's been dealing with a pinched nerve in his neck and a "swollen disc," which he aggravated Wednesday morning.
He had seriously considered withdrawing from the tournament, but he ultimately decided to play through the pain. He claimed the pain is so bad that he had difficulty raising his fork to eat breakfast.
Perico said he plans to return to Fayetteville eventually to have team doctors evaluate him.
"I should've withdrawn for sure," Perico said. "It hurts a lot. It just feels awful when I hit the golf ball.
"I'm just playing because I love it. We're playing in my home state. I just got to do it. It would have been smart to withdraw just because of health issues, but I'm just not built for that. I'm just gonna grind it out."
Perico is one of three Razorbacks hopefuls of six who made the cut at the Southern Amateur.
Just like Perico, senior Tyson Reeder, who transferred to Arkansas from Oklahoma State in January 2018, made the cut on the number at 3 over, after posting a 2-over 73 in the second round.
Senior William Buhl, a native of Oslo, Norway, is the leading Razorback through two days, sitting in a tie for 21st at 1 under. Buhl fired 2-under 69 Thursday.
"I'm hitting the ball great -- probably the best I have in a couple months," Buhl said. "If I get some putts to fall, I can be right there no problem."
Meanwhile, three other Razorbacks -- Gibson, Mason Overstreet and Luis Gerardo Garza -- all missed the cut.
"I think we'll be a dangerous team for sure," Overstreet said. "I think we'll have a little more depth this year than we've had in the past. I think it'll be a really good year."
Southern Amateur Championship leaderboard
Chenal Country Club
Founders Course
Little Rock
Par 71, 7,131 yards
Second of four rounds
Walker Lee 65-71--136
Michael Mattiace 71-66--137
Noah Woolsey 67-70--137
Kyler Tate 69-68--137
Aiden Didone 71-67--138
Blake Hathcoat 69-69--138
Parker Coody 67-71--138
Wilson Furr 67-71--138
Southern Amateur Championship pairings
• Today's third-round tee times
Chenal Country Club Founders Course
Par 71, 7,131 yards
HOLE 1
7:30 AM Brandon Smith, Thomas Johnson, Brandon Einstein
7:40 AM Austin Rose, Turk Pettit, Andy Schonbaum
7:50 AM Cooper Dossey, Trey Winstead, Brayden Garrison
8:00 AM Jack Ireland, Tom Forster, William Buhl
8:10 AM Greyson Porter, Eric Bae, Philip Barbaree
8:20 AM Ben Reichert, Luke Long, Shiso Go
8:30 AM Travis Vick, Blaine Hale, Miguel Delgado
8:40 AM Ryan Grider, Kyle Michel, Michael Sass
8:50 AM John Keefer, Andre Lautee, Brandon Smith
9:00 AM Colin Kober, Aiden Didone, Wilson Furr
9:10 AM Parker Coody, Blake Hathcoat, Kyler Tate
9:20 AM Michael Mattiace, Noah Woolsey, Walker Lee
HOLE 10
7:30 AM James Leow,Daniel Kim
7:40 AM AJ Beechler, Stewart Slayden, Collin Clark
7:50 AM Tyson Reeder, Hayden Hopewell, Marcus Byrd
8:00 AM Haydn Barron, Ashton Poole, Julian Perico
8:10 AM Matthew Mclean, Agustin Segundo Oliva Pinto, Koichiro Ishika
8:20 AM Garrett May, Quade Cummins, Khavish Varadan
8:30 AM Ford Clegg, Sam Choi, Graysen Huff
8:40 AM Blake Wagoner, Jimmy Zheng, Kyle Cottam
8:50 AM Jamie Wilson, Peter Kuest, Sam Bennett
9:00 AM Cole Anderson, Paul Gonzalez, Kyle Hogan
9:10 AM AJ Ott, Matthew Sharpstene, Charles Hillier
9:20 AM Billy Tom Sargent, Christopher Crabtree, Jordan Hahn
Southern Amateur Championship scores
Chenal Country Club
Founders Course
Little Rock
Par 71, 7,131 yards
Second of four rounds
Walker Lee 65-71--136
Michael Mattiace 71-66--137
Noah Woolsey 67-70--137
Kyler Tate 69-68--137
Aiden Didone 71-67--138
Blake Hathcoat 69-69--138
Parker Coody 67-71--138
Wilson Furr 67-71--138
Colin Kober 68-71--139
John Keefer 68-71--139
Michael Sass 67-72--139
Andre Lautee 69-70--139
Brandon Smith 71-68--139
Miguel Delgado 72-68--140
Ryan Grider 69-71--140
Blaine Hale 73-67--140
Kyle Michel 72-68--140
Luke Long 69-71--140
Shiso Go 69-71--140
Travis Vick 70-70--140
Ben Reichert 68-73--141
Greyson Porter 70-71--141
Jack Ireland 74-67--141
Tom Forster 72-69--141
Eric Bae 72-69--141
Philip Barbaree 70-71--141
William Buhl 72-69--141
Austin Rose 73-69--142
Brayden Garrison 69-73--142
Andy Schonbaum 74-68--142
Brandon Smith 71-71--142
Brandon Einstein 69-73--142
Cooper Dossey 73-69--142
Thomas Johnson 71-71--142
Trey Winstead 71-71--142
Turk Pettit 68-74--142
Christopher Crabtree 68-75--143
Matthew Sharpstene 71-72--143
AJ Ott 70-73--143
Billy Tom Sargent 66-77--143
Charles Hillier 74-69--143
Cole Anderson 71-72--143
Jordan Hahn 73-70--143
Kyle Hogan 69-74--143
Paul Gonzalez 73-70--143
Sam Bennett 72- 71--143
Blake Wagoner 74-70--144
Jamie Wilson 70-74--144
Jimmy Zheng 68-76--144
Kyle Cottam 74-70--144
Ford Clegg 71-73--144
Graysen Huff 70-74--144
Khavish Varadan 71-73--144
Peter Kuest 68-76--144
Sam Choi 74-70--144
Agustin S.O. Pinto 78-67--145
Ashton Poole 73-72--145
Collin Clark 76-69--145
James Leow 76-69--145
Koichiro Ishika 70-75--145
Marcus Byrd 76-69--145
Matthew Mclean 72-73--145
Stewart Slayden 73-72--145
AJ Beechler 73-72--145
Daniel Kim 73-72--145
Garrett May 75-70--145
Hayden Hopewell 70-75--145
Haydn Barron 74-71--145
Julian Perico 71-74--145
Quade Cummins 74-71--145
Tyson Reeder 72-73--145
Missed the cut
Andrew Spear 72-74--146
Brian Richards 73-73--146
Caleb Proveaux 72-74--146
Charlie Flynn 77-69--146
Eddy Lai 74-72--146
Eduardo Carrete 72-74--146
Sean Butscher 75-71--146
Chandler Phillips 76-70--146
Chris Woollam 70-76--146
Connor Gaunt 76-70--146
Hayden Springer 78-68--146
Jack Thompson 76-70--146
Julien Sale 73-73--146
Levi Valadez 74-72--146
Varun Chopra 74-72--146
Cole Bradley 76-71--147
Leon D'Souza 76-71--147
Nick Costello 73-74--147
Brice Wilkinson 76-71--147
Isaiah Jackson 72-75--147
Mason Overstreet 73-74--147
Matthew Cole 75-72--147
Paul Chaplet 73-74--147
Ryoto Furuya 70-77--147
Sean Meehan 73-74--147
Sean Wilcox 71-76--147
Allen Hamilton 76-72--148
Jay Kirchdorfer 73-75--148
Nick Duggan 74-74--148
Aaron Terrazas 77-71--148
Cody Banach 75-73--148
Cooper Sears 70-78--148
Kaiwen Liu 78-70--148
Marco Steyn 77-71--148
McCain Schellhardt 75-73--148
Tripp Kinney 71-77--148
William Wann 74-74--148
Cody Argade 76-73--149
Drew Mathers 75-74--149
Hayden White 71-78--149
Kerry Mountcastle 73-76--149
Wil Gibson 75-74--149
William Walker 72-77--149
Chip Thomas 74-75--149
Hunter Wolcott 74-75--149
Michael Sanders 78-71--149
Philip Nijoka 74-75--149
Alex Goff 73-77--150
Jordan Plunkett 75-75--150
Darcy Brereton 78-72--150
Hunter Dunagan 71-79--150
Manuel Lozada 71-79--150
Trey Bosco 80-70--150
Amadeo Figus 78-73--151
Garrett Johnson 73-78--151
Jesus Montenegro 76-75--151
Lane Wallace 75-76--151
Easton Paxton 75-76--151
Griffin Barela 73-78--151
Luca Filippi 74-77--151
Dawson McDaniel 76-76--152
Jack Parker 77-75--152
Jackson Lalonde 76-76--152
Logan Sowell 70-82--152
Sam Goldasich 74-78--152
Tyler Johnson 76-76--152
Luis Gerardo Garza 76-77--153
Nick Giles 84-69--153
Blake Collyer 73-80--153
Blake McShea 76-77--153
Devyn Pappas 84-70--154
Lucas Park 75-79--154
Oliver Whatley 83-71--154
Brad Reeves 78-76--154
Jimmie Massie 77-77--154
Mark Reppe 79-75--154
Harry Hillier 74-81--155
John McGoogan 79-77--156
Sam Meek 77-79--156
Lucas Armstrong 82-75--157
Micah Goulas 82-75--157
Mason Nome 79-79--158
Kymer Li 82-80--162
Connor Asarch 77-87--164
Scott Steed 85-86--171
Steffen Smith 72-WD--WD
Sam Goldenring 74-WD--WD
Brock Ochsenreiter WD-WD--WD
Sports on 07/19/2019