It was his first appearance ever at the County Amateur, and it was his first time playing at Lebanon Valley in quite some time. Safe to say that Craig Kliewer enjoyed it so much that he’ll be doing it again soon.

On Saturday morning at Lebanon Valley Golf Course, in the opening round of the annual Lebanon County Amateur Championship, Kliewer fired a very satisfying one-over par score of 72. That score placed Kliewer, a resident of Lancaster County who plays out of the Lebanon Country, alone in second-place behind first-round leader Justin Arnt.

As may have been expected, Kliewer started a bit slow on a Myerstown course he hadn’t played in nearly two decades. But he picked up the pace on Lebanon Valley’s back nine, posting a score of 33 that was two-under par.

Hovering at three-over par for the day, Kliewer picked up some momentum with a short birdie at the par-four 11th, then followed that with similar birds at the par-five 15th and the par-four 17th. Thanks in part to a double bogey at the par-four fourth hole, Kliewer had stood at four-over par, before registering back-to-back birdies at Numbers Seven and Eight.

For his round, the steady Kliewer carded five birdies, four bogeys and that double.