Eighteen-year-old Nick Austin fired a 6-under 66 in grand fashion to lead the way after the first round of the 2009 Jefferson Cup tournament at Birdwood Golf Club.

It’s a two-horse race for the 19th annual Battle Trophy, symbolic of the Central Virginia Amateur Golfer of the Year, heading into the competition’s final event of the season, next month’s Jefferson Cup at Birdwood.

Decker, considered the top amateur in the state over the past decade, heads the 96-man field for the 2nd annual Cannon Cup at Spring Creek beginning today.

The leader in the Battle Trophy race halfway through this year’s competition won’t be hanging around to try for a three-peat.

After last weekend’s second of six events, the Old Trail Team Championships, which actually turned more into an individual tournament due to lack of club participation, the Battle standings took a dramatic turn.

After capturing back-to-back Battle Trophy championships and winning every local tournament that he entered this summer, local golf fans wondered just what Nick Little was going to do for an encore.

With his come-from-behind victory in the Jefferson Cup Invitational golf tournament at Birdwood over the weekend, Nick Little blew away the competition for the top spot in the 2008 Battle Trophy competition’s final standings.

Little, who has dominated Central Virginia amateur golf for the past two years, will lead the field heading into today’s 54-hole annual Jefferson Cup Invitational at Birdwood Golf Club. It is one of only two local tournaments that Little hasn’t won.

Nick Little isn’t planning on giving up his hold on the Battle Trophy any time soon. The Crozet golfer, who plays out of Old Trail and just finished his junior season on the Radford University team, has entered two of the local Battle Trophy tournaments so far this season. He’s two for two.

The race for the 2008 Battle Trophy is on. Now in the 18th year of competition, the Battle Trophy is one of Central Virginia’s most coveted prizes, annually signifying the region’s top amateur golfer through a points system. Points are awarded in seven local tournaments, along with the Virginia State Amateur and SunTrust of Virginia Open.