Every golfer in the Greater Baltimore Classic field carries some knowledge of Owings Mills' Caves Valley Golf Club, host course of next week's U.S. Senior Open.

Whether by reputation, limited experience or myth, everyone's got a tale of some sort about the hauntingly challenging, but beautiful par-71 layout.

Perhaps one player who should have the most to say is Jim Holtgrieve.

Holtgrieve has been a member at Caves Valley since 1993 and plays the course about five times a year. It's not home, but it's close.

"I'll be at the Open next week, so I'll be kind of playing my home course. Well, not my home course, but you know," said the St. Louis resident who is staying at Caves Valley this weekend. "It will be fun to be there. The people there are just wonderful."

As an amateur who played in tournaments across the country, Holtgrieve met up with the club's chairman and director of golf and, upon invitation, joined immediately.

"They asked if I would consider being a member at Caves Valley," said Holtgrieve, who turned pro in 1998. "I said, 'Absolutely.' I didn't hesitate at all because I heard how great it was."

Separated by about 20 minutes, Holtgrieve isn't opposed to Hayfields Country Club either.

He wowed fans at the 18th green when he knocked his 80-yard approach inches from the cup, tapping it in to finish the day in red numbers.

He shot a 1-under-par 71 (four birdies, three bogeys) that he described as an "up-and-down kind of round."

Holtgrieve did say, though, that it was nice being introduced on the first tee as a member of Caves Valley, as he will next week at the Senior Open.

"I hope they'll be proud [to have a member playing]," he said. "It'll be fun. I'm sure I'll have some people from Baltimore rooting for me for that reason. That will be kind of neat.

"People in Baltimore are great supporters of golf and great supporters of sports. ... There is lots of good golf to be seen in this city in the next 10 days."

5-under turnaround

Bruce Fleisher admitted Thursday that he was approaching the Greater Baltimore Classic "a little aloof," partially because of next week's U.S. Senior Open, which he won last year in Salem, Mass.

Relaxed and nonchalant as he may have felt coming into this tournament, which he lost in a playoff to Allen Doyle last year, his attitude is certainly changing.

A 5-under 67 in the first round will do that to a man.

"Oh, it changes, yeah," said Fleisher, who had six birdies and one bogey on his scorecard yesterday. "I just wanted to make a decent showing. I played good last week, couldn't get it in the hole Sunday, so maybe I can do it this week."

Fleisher was the runner-up last week in the BellSouth Classic in Nashville, Tenn., and in last year's State Farm Classic.

"I could've gone deep today, but you know what, today's kind of a jockey day to get in position," he said.

Fleisher got in position, he said, thanks to good up-and-downs on the sixth and seventh holes and a 90-foot birdie putt on the 210-yard par-3 eighth hole.

"That was a no-brainer on eight that really helped me out. Whew, it was crazy," he said.

McCullough on again

Mike McCullough continued his strong play at Hayfields yesterday, shooting a 5-under 67 to tie for fourth, two shots back with 36 holes to play.

"There's a lot of golf left. You can't get too wrapped up into what happens today," McCullough said, working on his swing at the driving range after his round. "I played through a lot of trouble today. Hopefully we'll get some things worked out and play well tomorrow."

McCullough, who shot three rounds under par to finish fourth last year, said it would be nice to play well this weekend since his oldest son, Jason, lives in Baltimore and the rest of his children flew up from Arizona to watch him play this week and next at the Senior Open.