Kinnare played nearly mistake-free

Of the players at the top of the leaderboard, Kinnare had the least self-imposed stress. He made only one bogey, at No. 2 (his 11th hole of the day) and wielded a hot putter, starting with a 35-footer for birdie at No. 10, followed by a 12-footer at No. 12 and a 15-footer at No. 14.

Jacksonville Amateur second-round groups, tee times

Kinnare said it followed a pattern during a torrid spring and summer in which he's won a Florida Junior Tour event in Ocala, won the Azalea Junior, tied for third in the Azalea Amateur and tied for fourth in the Florida Junior Boys.

"Definitely, putting has been good ... making a few more putts that I normally do," he said. "Some of these holes [at Sawgrass] are pretty tight, so I'm hitting a lot of 3-irons and hybrids."

Will Braude battled back from a double

Braude, who works for JPMorgan, has been trying to step his game up since moving back to Jacksonville three years ago. He missed the cut last year when the JAGA Amateur was at his home course was determined to play more relaxed this year.

He birdied four of his first eight holes, with two-putt birdies at the par-5 fourth and eighth holes, then hit a speed bump when he double-bogeyed the par-5 ninth from the fairway when he pushed his second shot into the water.

Braude got that back and more when he made four birdies on the back nine, capped by a 25-foot putt at the last.

"Golf is mostly between the ears," he said. "Just not letting stuff bother me as much. I think a year ago, making double would have sent me into a tailspin. I just told myself, 'You're hitting it well. Keep doing what you're doing."

Luke Balaskiewicz got off to torrid start

Balaskiewicz, the runner-up to Erickson last year at Timuquana, got off to a blazing start with four birdies on his first five holes and a front-nine 31. The run was highlighted by a 40-foot birdie putt at No. 5, and he added a 10-footer for birdie at No. 7.

However, he hit his tee shot at No. 11 out of bounds and made double on the par-5. He had a clean card after that and birdied the 18th.

Reed and Robards also had scores marred with one bad hole. Reed had a triple-bogey 8 at No. 2 but he bounced back to play his last 14 holes at 6-under, with no bogeys. Robards was tied with Balaskiewicz at 4-under and bogeyed No. 18.

Players were regrouped by score for the second round on July 20. The cut will be made to the low 42, plus ties, for the third round on July 21.

Jacksonville Amateur first-round scores

Ambrose Kinnare 34-33—67

Luke Balaskiewicz 31-37—68

Danny Erickson 35-36—71

Maxwell Morgan 34-38—72

Cooper Franklin 34-38—72

Ryan Nicholson 38-36—74

Elliott Mehler 36-38—74

D.J. Waller 38-37—75

Matthew French 38-37—75

Matt Kleinrock 40-36—76

Aubrey Fellows 37-40—77

Barton Abstein 38-39—77

Adam Krestalude 30-38—78

Andrew Rottschalk 41-37—78

Ethan Grossman 40-39—79

Nickolas Sarianides 40-40—80

Len Schonfeld III 40-41—81

Dan Huffingham 43-39—82

Nicklaus Meyer 43-39—82

David Phillips 45-37—82

Jason Ondriezek 44-40—84

Zachary Rogers 49-38—87

Eddie Erickson 47-42—87

Garrett Ho-Shing 47-44—91

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ambrose Kinnare, Will Braude share first-round JAGA Amateur lead