Laura Apyan walked Creeks Bend Golf Club on Monday, and she sent a text to her husband after every hole about the progress of son Paul.

She sent good news often.

Apyan shot an 8-under-par 62 and has a five-shot lead heading into the last day of the Ira Templeton Chattanooga Open.

“I got lucky,” said the 2005 tournament champion, a Southern Miss rising senior. “Lately I’ve had a lot of 15-20-footers that burn the edge or spin out. They fell today and that’s about it.”

Apyan’s round included seven birdies and an eagle on No. 11. After a birdie on No. 12, he stood at 8 under. He reached 9 under with another birdie on No. 14. One golfer looked at the scoreboard and joked that Apyan must have played a different course or from the red tees.

“I thought a 56 or a 57 was out there the way I was hitting it,” Apyan said. “I missed a short putt on 13 for birdie, and that took some wind out of my sails.”

His only mistake came on No. 17 when he swung a 5-iron instead of a 6-iron to the par-3. Apyan made a bogey to eliminate the possibility of shooting a 59.

“I can build on this all summer,” said Apyan, who played Creeks Bend often as a junior golfer. “After shooting a 62, if I shoot a 65 I’ll feel like I left some out there.”

Fellow amateur John Fox is tied for second with Loren Personett at 67. Personett is the low professional by one shot over Signal Mountain Golf & Country Club head pro Jay Underwood, who is fourth overall after a 68.

Amateurs are competing for a trophy and gift certificates. The pros are competing for a check of about $3,000.

“It’s fun to play well when you don’t get to play as much as you’d like, when you can go 10 days without swinging a club,” Underwood said. “Our games are hit-and-miss. And I know $3,000 would buy a lot of diapers for our 5-month-old.”

Henrik Simonsen of The Honors Course, Rob Riddle of Black Creek Club and Zeb Patten of Z-Golf are tied for third in the pro division with 69s.

Doug Harris, an amateur from Franklin, leads the senior division after shooting a 64. Pro Randy Helton is tied for second with Council Fire director of golf Hunt Gilliland, pro Mark Houser and Chattanooga amateur Randy Yoder, who all shot 69s.

“I made an adjustment to where I open the toe a hair,” said Harris, who played in the 2009 U.S. Senior Open. “The longest putt I made all day was after I hit the pin on No. 18.”

Yoder’s round included the 10th hole-in-one of his golfing career. In the first group out, he aced No. 6 with a 9-iron from 135 yards out. Tom Baird, a friend from Signal Mountain, witnessed the shot of the day.

But Apyan had the round of the day.