It started at 8 a.m. with the first tee time and ended at 9:42 p.m. Monday when the final player on the course—Signal Mountain assistant pro Kendall Devane—couldn't find his ball in the No. 18 fairway. In between, there was a delay for heavy rain from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Somewhere in the middle of the long day and delays, four players emerged as the first-round leaders of the 2004 Don Malarkey Open Championship at the Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club.

Tied at 3-under 68 were amateurs Neil Spitalny and Jerod Baldwin and professionals Scott Masters and Mike Bennett.

Trailing by one shot were UTC's Bryce Ledford and professionals Greg Wyatt and Randy Helton. Nashville professional Loren Personett and MTSU student Justin Miers were two shots behind.

The early leader in the clubhouse was Spitalny, who could have been the leader if not for a double-bogey on No. 17.

"I left my ball in the left bunker,'' he said. "It was soft from all the rain and I just didn't get it out.''

Overall, I hit some really good shots and had several good up-and-downs. It was a solid round.''

Spitalny had birdies on Nos. 1, 4, 9, 10 and 16.

Baldwin, who will be a senior at Lee University in the fall, made an eagle on the par 4 No. 15.

"I knocked it in from 80 yards,'' said Baldwin, who graduated from Bradley Central High School. "I yelled a little bit.

"I haven't been playing well until the last few days. I haven't changed anything, but I've practiced a little more. I could have been lower. I had a bunch of lip-outs today.''

Masters was the second assistant under pro Don Jones at Signal Mountain from 1997-99.

"It was great working here, and it's very good to be back,'' said Masters, who is the first assistant at Holston Hills in Knoxville. "(Superintendent) John Henderson has done a great job with the course. It's the best I've ever seen.''

Masters had just hit his second shot on No. 1 when the horn sounded to delay play four hours.

"I hit a 6-iron 5-feet from the pin,'' he said. "I told my wife, Sara, that I sure hope we get back out there to play.''

When play resumed, Masters made the eagle putt. He had birdies on Nos. 9 and 16, and bogeyed No. 7.

"This was a nice way to get the tournament started,'' Masters said.

Bennett, from the Chattanooga Golf Center, also shot a 3-under 68. He had birdies on Nos. 1, 6, 11 and 13 and a bogey on No. 16.

"For the last two weeks, I've been putting good,'' Bennett said. "I was 4-under here recently and last Friday was 7-under going into 13 before we got rained out. When my putter is working, I can score. I hope it lasts.''
____________________________

LEDFORD, WYATT, HELTON AT 69: Defending champion Bryce Ledford was tied at 2-under 69 with Greg Wyatt, from the Golf Capital Learning Center in Crossville, and Murfreesboro pro Randy Helton.

"I was 3-under through 14, but bogeyed No. 15,'' said Ledford, who won the Red Bud Invitational recently. "Number 15 is my nemesis. I always bogey it.''

Ledford had six birdies and four bogeys.

"And I missed a lot of birdie putts, too,'' he said. "My confidence is definitely up, but I was disappointed with my short game today. It was awful. I missed four greens and didn't get it up-and-down on any of them. I've got to work on my short game.''

Wyatt said his round could have been much better.

"I couldn't make any putts,'' Wyatt said. "But I hit it a lot better than I expected.''

Helton was 4-under through five holes, but slipped back on the backside.

MILLER TIME DELAYED: Mike Miller, Keith Burdette and Signal Mountain general manager Scott Hare were the first threesome off No. 1 on Monday morning at 8. In less than three hours, they had just hit their tee shots off No. 18 when the horn sounded for a lengthy rain delay.

More than four hours later, the threesome finished playing No. 18.

"I had heard about this happening to other people, but not to me,'' Miller said. "We wanted to be in the first group to stay away from a six-hour round, but we got one anyway.''

ONLY DEVANE DOESN'T FINISH: Kendall Devane, who was 2-over, couldn't find his ball in the No. 18 fairway when play ended at 9:42 p.m. His playing partners, Hal Hazelwood and Gerald Levan, finished their rounds at 9:30, leaving Devane in the fairway.

Devane continued to look for his ball, but finally decided it couldn't be found. He left the course very disappointed.

"Just my luck,'' Devane said. "Just my luck. I'm not surprised.''

The 67-year-old Levan, who shot an 89, said, "It was the worst round of golf I've ever played. I couldn't do anything once it got past my bed-time.''

MALARKEY NOTEBOOK: Ninety-nine-year-old Don Malarkey, for whom the tournament was named, served as the honorary starter. He made it through every threesome, despite the four-hour delay. … The long weather delay forced several withdrawals. … Lex Tarumianz shot an 80, and said. "Everything is going well but my golf game, and I don't know where it's gone.'' … Zeb Patten was disappointed with his 74. "The course is playing easy, the greens are soft,'' he said. "I don't understand.'' … Ricky Honeycutt shot a par 71. "I just couldn't get anything going,'' he said. "I'm hitting it well, putting it well, but I'm not making any birdies. I'm just not scoring.'' … Taylor Lewis finished at 9:12 p.m. "I need something to eat,'' Lewis said. "I ran the last four holes.''

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)