Wyatt Novotny is the leader in the clubhouse.

The Bureau Valley senior shot a 2-under 70 in Friday’s first round of the IHSA Class 1A State Golf Meet at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington, good for a 2-shot lead over Jacob Voss of Fulton for first place.

Novotny shot a 3-under 33 with three birdies on the front 9 with a 1-over 37 with two birdes on the back 9.

“Today went pretty great, played well in all aspects of the game, but especially off the tee as I only missed two or three fairways all day. Made a couple up and downs and longer putts for par and just stuck to my game plan,” Novotny said.

Three Hall golfers also advanced to Saturday’s finals. Junior Luke Bryant stands 38th with a round of 82 while teammates Noah Plym and Clayton Fusinetti were among six individual qualifiers at 85 to claim the final berth.

Bryant had the moment of the day with his first career hole-in-one on the 130-yard, No. 5 hole with his pitching wedge in front of nearly a hundred people.

Other scores for Hall Friday were Jimmie Jablonski (86) and Johnni Escatel (86), who tied for 69th, and Joseph Perez (87), who placed 77th.

Hall, which advanced to state for the first time as a team, finished 11th in the 12-team team field with a round of 338. The Red Devils missed the cut by nine strokes.

“Not what we were hoping for. We definitely had a shot on being in the mix, but it just wasn’t our day,” Hall coach Mason Kimberly said. “We were, however, the only school out of the 12 who had all six players shoot 87 or better. Certainly something to hang our hats on.

“The players who aren’t playing tomorrow will be rooting on the players who did, and we will all be rooting for Wyatt Novotny to win the individual crown.

Only the top eight teams advance along with the 40 individual golfers not on those qualifying teams.

Teutopolis (313) leads Elgin Harvest Academy (317) by three strokes.