May 15, 2009

Hokies eighth after first round of NCAA regional

AUSTIN, Tex. – Virginia Tech shot an opening round 302 and is in eighth place at the NCAA Austin Regional at the par 71, 7,412-yard University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, Tex. on Thursday. The Hokies entered the event as the tenth seed.

“We got off to a good start,” head coach Jay Hardwick said. “We made some bogeys, but we made some birdies early in the first three or four holes and took advantage of those holes. The first five holes on the back nine (Tech’s first nine) are really the easiest on the course.”

Senior Drew Weaver (High Point, N.C.) shot 72 in the first round and is tied for ninth place individually. He is four strokes behind Lance Lopez of Texas and Hugues Joannes of Lamar, who are tied for the lead.

Redshirt senior Will Oldham (Spartanburg, S.C.) shot 75 and is tied for 24th place and sophomore Garland Green (Tazewell, Va.) is tied for 38th at 77. Sophomore Marshall Bailey (Fincastle, Va.) is tied for 49th at 78 and redshirt junior Matt Boyd (Sugar Land, Tex.) is tied for 61st at 81.

Golfers Tied for Second at NCAA Regional

Bowling Green, Ky. - Cameron Tringale fired a 3-under-par 69 Thursday, and Georgia Tech rallied from a poor start to post a team score of 292, 4-over-par, and take second place after the first round of the NCAA Central Regional golf tournament.

No. 2 seed Tech found itself 7-over-par through its first five holes at the Club at Olde Stone Thursday, but the Yellow Jackets found their legs and played the final 13 holes in 3-under-par, finishing 18 holes tied with UCLA. Washington, the top seed, had no problems Thursday despite a storm that delayed the start of the round, playing the course in 6-under-par 282 and taking a 10-shot lead into Friday's second round.

NC State shot 294 (6-over-par) to take fourth place, followed by Louisville and Mississippi (296), Duke (298), East Tennessee State (299) and Ohio State (300). The top five finishers after 54 holes advance to the NCAA Championship, May 26-30, in Bowling Green, Ky.

"The hour and a half delay affected us a little, but the first five holes are very hard," said Tech coach Bruce Heppler. "But the thing that's impressive is we're getting better at hanging in there. Chesson birdied the last two holes in his round today, and JT overcame a really rough start.

"I thought the golf course was really hard. We played our practice round in 35 mile-per-hour winds yesterday. But the wind calmed today, and the rain softened the course a little. You've got to drive it in the fairway, lots of rough."

Blue Devils In Seventh Following Opening Round Of NCAA Central Regional

ALVATON, KY -- Senior Clark Klaasen fired a team-best one-over 73 on Thursday to lead Duke into seventh place following the opening round of play at the NCAA Central Regional. Junior Adam Long and sophomore Matthew Pierce each shot two--over 74s to help pace the Blue Devils to a 10-over 298 at The Club at Olde Stone.

"Clark's game today was solid start to finish," said head coach Jamie Green. "He worked really hard to get more comfortable on the practice tee yesterday and it paid off. He was really in control of his game today and played calm, assertive golf."

Washington shot a six-under 282 on Thursday to take the first round lead. Nick Taylor paced the Huskies with a five-under 67 to grab the individual lead. Georgia Tech and UCLA are tied for second at four-over (292) with North Carolina fourth with a six-over 294. Louisville and Mississippi are tied for fifth at eight-over (296), two shots ahead of Duke. The top five teams will advance to the 2009 NCAA Championship at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

Klaasen matched a team-high with four birdies in the first round but also had three bogeys and a double-bogey en route to a 73. He is tied for 11th after Thursday's opening round. Following a par on No.1, Klaasen bogeyed the par 5 second hole to slip to one-over. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native posted four straight pars before sinking a 12-foot birdie putt on the par 5 seventh hole to get back to even-par. He added a birdie on No. 9 with a 20-foot putt on No. 9 to make the turn at one-under. Klaasen ran into trouble on No. 11 and No.12, going bogey-double-bogey to slip to two-over. He recovered to birdie No. 14 after putting his drive on the back edge of the 331-yard downhill par 4. After suffering a bogey on No. 17, Klaasen closed his day with an birdie on the 557-yard par 5 18th hole after chipping to within three feet on the final hole.

Men’s Golf in Fourth at NCAA Regionals

BOWLING GREEN, KY. – Led by the first round showings of senior Darren Blair and sophomore Matt Hill, the NC State men’s golf team currently sits in fourth place at the 2009 NCAA Central Regional Championships taking place in Bowling Green, Ky., this weekend. NC State shot a six-over (294) on Thursday, with both Blair and Hill carding scores of two-under (70), placing each third after 18 holes.

Top-seed Washington currently holds a 10 shot lead at six-under. Georgia Tech and UCLA are tied at four-over in second place, two shots ahead of the Pack. The Pack has to finish in the top-five this weekend to advance to the NCAA Championships, as is two shots ahead of a pair of teams tied for fifth.

NC State had a rough morning as the Pack’s five golfers combined to shoot 10-over par, but on the second nine holes NC State improved by five shots.

Blair had a consistant round, shooting a one-under on both the front and back-nine. Blair used a pair of eagles, on the par-five No. 11 and 18, as well as a pair of birdies to shoot a two-under (70) in the first round.

Clemson in Sixth Place After First Round of NCAA Northeast Regional

Clemson, SC - All-American Kyle Stanley fired a one over par 72 to lead Clemson to a 310 team score and a sixth-place standing out of 14 teams after the first round of the NCAA Northeast Regional at Galloway National Golf Course in Galloway Township, NJ. The Tigers need to finish in the top five after the third and final round on Saturday to advance to the NCAA National Tournament at Inverness in Toledo, OH May 26-30.

The Galloway National course proved to be a challenge for all the teams on Thursday, as winds averaged 20 miles an hour and gusted to 35 miles an hour at times. None of the 75 players broke par on the par 71 course that is 7022 yards in length. Clemson's 26-over score was its highest in an NCAA Tournament since the Tigers were 30-over-par in the final round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, TN. That day in 1996 Tigers Woods of Stanford won the national championship despite shooting a final round score of 80.

While Clemson's team score was uncharacteristically high, the Tigers are in good shape relative to making the cut. Clemson is just three strokes off the fifth place cutline entering the second round. Illinois, who played with the Tigers on Thursday, is in fifth place at 23 over par 207.

Tennessee has the first round lead after shooting a +12 team score of 296. Wake Forest, who has not defeated Clemson in four previous head to head tournament meetings this year, is in second place at +13, 297. Virginia, who is in third place at 14 over par.

Freshman Lee Bedford cards at 1-over 72 in the opening round

GALLOWAY, N.J. - On an extremely windy day off the shores of Reeds Bay in Galloway, N.J., the Wake Forest men's golf team fired a strong round of 297 to stand just one shot out of the lead after day one of the NCAA Northeast Regional.

The Galloway National Golf Club, which covers 7,022 yards and plays to a par-71, yielded very few low scores on Thursday. In fact, nobody broke par in the opening round.

"It was a very windy day out there today and I thought our guys played a heck of a round," said head coach Jerry Haas. "This is a difficult golf course and then when the wind blows like this, it can be brutal. The guys all hung in there and took what the course was giving them today, knowing that everyone was going to struggle. Their attitudes were great all day."

The Demon Deacons were led by freshman Lee Bedford's round of 1-over 72. He started his day with a birdie at No. 10 but despite ten pars over the next 14 holes, Bedford found himself three over with two holes to play.

The Cary, N.C., native then made a nice birdie at the tough par-three eighth and followed that with a solid birdie-4 at the ninth to finish with a 72.

UVa Finishes First Day of NCAA Regional Play in 3rd Place

Galloway, NJ – The Virginia men’s golf team got off to an impressive start during the first round of play at the NCAA East Regional Championship. The Cavaliers, seeded ninth in the 14-team field, shot 14-over 298 on the very tough Galloway National Golf Club course to finish the opening day in third place. Virginia trails No. 20 Tennessee by two shots and is a single-stroke behind No. 27 Wake Forest. The top five teams from the three-day tournament will advance to the NCAA Championships.

UVa junior Kyle Stough is tied for second after the first round at 1-over 72. He and Wake Forest’s Lee Bedford and Clemson’s Kyle Stanley trail Tennessee’s Darren Renwick by one shot at the top of the leaderboard. No player in the 75-man field managed to break par. Stough stood 3-over after his first eight holes and then managed to fire off three birdies over a four-hole stretch to get back to even. He bogeyed No. 13 before finishing with five straight pars.

Cavalier freshman Ben Kohles also had a solid first day finishing with a 3-over 74. He is tied for seventh place on the leaderboard. Senior Conrad Von Borsig is in 14th place with a 75 while Will Collins round out the UVa scoring with a 77 to figure 23. Bruce Woodall shot 87 and is in 68th place.

Carolina's O'Connell Tied For 27th At NCAA NE Regional

GALLOWAY, N.J. - University of North Carolina golfer Kevin O'Connell carded an eight-over-par 79 and is tied for 27th place after the first round of the NCAA Northeast Regional played at Galloway National Golf Club which features a par 71, 7,022-yard layout.

O'Connell, a senior All-ACC performer from Cary, N.C., birdied the first hole, but suffered bogies on five of the next six holes and then a double-bogey on the eighth hole. He was six-over at the midway point, but then turned it around playing the back side at two-over with four bogies and two birdies.

The course played tough for everyone, however, as no one broke par and only one player, Darren Renwick of Tennessee, was able to fire an even par round of 71 during the blustery conditions.

"It was brutal out there today," says O'Connell. "Nothing was easy, but I still have two days to get things back."

Tennessee leads the 14-team field with a 12-over 296 total. Wake Forest is one stroke back in second place at 297 while Virginia is third at 298.

Three players are tied for second place at even par 72, one stroke behind Tennessee's Renwick. That trio consists of Wake Forest's Lee Bedford, Clemson's Kyle Stanley and Virginia's Kyle Stough.

Seminoles Men's Golf Team In Fifth Place At NCAA Southeast Regional Championship

SORRENTO, Fla. - Florida State Senior All-American Matt Savage is in a tie for third place in the individual standings after shooting a five under par score of 66 and the Seminole men's golf team is in fifth place in the team standings after the first round of the NCAA Division I men's golf regional championship at the Red Tail Golf Club. The Seminoles had all five of its golfers finish at or under par and they combined to card a 277 team score - tied for their best single round score of the year. The Seminoles are nine strokes behind the overall team leader -- UCF -- who blistered the course with a 268 team total.

The Seminoles, who are competing in their fourth consecutive NCAA regional championship, need to finish as one of the top five teams in the event to advance to the NCAA Championships which are scheduled to May 27-30 at the Inverness Country Club in Toledo, Ohio.

No. 23 ranked Central Florida, the host team, is in first place in the team standings after the first round. The Knights are two strokes ahead of Arizona. Tarquin McManus of Arizona shot an eight under par 63 and is the first round individual leader.