WILLIAMSBURG -- Courtney Ellenbogen can add something to her resume, which is already far fuller than a typical 17-year-old's.

The Blacksburg High School junior now has major drawing power.

Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer watched her first drive at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill on Thursday, then Gov. Tim Kaine stood and applauded as she walked off the 18th green.

In between, Ellenbogen -- the youngest player here and one of just two amateurs in the field -- played like a pro. She shot a 1-under 70 in the final group of the first round.

"Absolutely amazing," said her father, Bill Ellenbogen.

Even more impressive is how close the teenager came to finishing the day near the top of the leaderboard. She narrowly missed birdies on the first two holes, before finally dropping one on No. 3.

A bogey at the eighth brought her back to even, but Ellenbogen closed with composure -- and nearly scorched the back nine.

She tapped in for pars, from a foot or closer, on seven of the final 10 holes.

"If you'd told me this morning that I'd finish under par, I would've been happy," she said. "But I know I could've gone lower. I left a few strikes out there ... but I didn't screw up too many times."

No, she didn't.

Ellenbogen birdied No. 12 with a 12-foot putt, then saved par at No. 13 with a 20-footer. She hit all but one fairway.

"She is so steady," said Bill Ellenbogen. "I'm a real fiery guy. I want to throw the golf clubs. Her mom's pretty high-strung, too. So we don't know where it comes from, but she's smooth."

On the No. 18, Ellenbogen left a 30-foot birdie sitting at the lip of the cup.

Another tap-in tied her for 59th place in the 144-player field. It puts Ellenbogen in good position to make the cut for this weekend..

With a little creative math, though, one could argue she was less than a combined six feet from contending for the title. Where Ellenbogen narrowly missed, Mhairi McKay (albeit 16 years her senior) made putts -- good for a course-record 63 and the first-round lead.

"Courtney was very close to shooting a great, great score," said Mark Hawley, Ellenbogen's uncle and caddy.

"Not that 70 is anything to sneeze at. I've seen this before. She keeps doing it, so I guess I have to start saying I'm not surprised."

Others in Ellenbogen's growing gallery, though, were dazzled by her day. Kaine was among them.

He stood to applaud her final putt, then approached after she signed her scorecard.

"Can I say hi?" he said. "I'm the governor."

She smiled, nodded, shook his hand.

"Uh, yeah," she said. "I know who you are."

Now he knows her, too.