Scott Stevens struggled through his winter growth spurt.
Now a full 6 feet tall, the senior at Chattanooga Christian School has worked out a flaw in his golf swing that resulted in fades going too far right or over-correcting and snapping shots to the left.
Stevens hit almost every shot as pure as possible Saturday during the first round of the Cleveland Invitational. Stevens, who will be playing for South Carolina in the fall, fired a 7-under-par 65 and leads the tournament by one over Lee University junior Taylor Davis.
David Watts is three shots off the lead, and Neil Spitalny leads the senior division at even-par by two over Mitch Hufstetler.
"I had swing problems in the winter and I worked on them, so it feels good to have that pay off," said Stevens, who started his round with an eagle on No. 1. "It's good to know that what I've been working on is working."
He followed his opening eagle with a birdie on No. 2. In a bogey-free round, Stevens birdied four out of five holes starting on No. 13 at Cleveland Country Club.
"My problem was that I'd have my swing for most of the round, then lose it," Stevens said. "So to get in the clubhouse with a 65 feels pretty good.
"I got on a roll on the back side, and I was able to hit some wedges in there close."
Davis, who plays regularly at Cleveland Country Club as a member of the Flames golf team, set a career low on the course with his 66. Davis, who hails from Franklin, Tenn., spread out seven birdies and one bogey. His tee shot on the par-3 17th settled less than three feet from the cup for an easy birdie.
"We spend quite a bit of time out here, and it helped at times and in some spots where they moved up tees," Davis said. "I did a good job of keeping it in play so I'd have a chance to make a putt."
Lee coach John Maupin shot a 76. His trash-talking is now on mute.
"He was giving us (Lee golfers) a hard time," Davis said. "It's nice to beat Coach any time you can, especially when you can get him by 10 shots."
Watts, the veteran on the leaderboard, was happy to get out and compete. He and his fiancee have two small children -- 3-year-old Brynna and 8-month-old David -- which restrict his time to practice on a course.
Instead, he practices his putting alignment on concrete in their garage, his putting stroke on old-fashioned AstroTurf on the other side of the garage and by chipping plastic balls off the carpet and over the couch in their living room.
"Ever since the (Chattanooga) TPC, all I've looked forward to is getting the season going again," Watts said. "I've gone crazy staying inside. But I've had fun.
"My 3-year-old will make a circle with her arms and I'll try to chip it in her arms like a basketball."
To Stevens, the cup on every green seemed as wide as a basketball hoop Saturday.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.