Chattanooga Falls Short in East Regional
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---Chattanooga fell short in its bid for the NCAA Finals finishing tied for 12th at the NCAA East Regional at Council Fire Golf Club. The Mocs shot a six-over par 290 in the final round to end with a three-day total of 853 (+1), tying New Mexico State.
Georgia lapped the field, shooting minus-41, 811 for 54 holes. The Bulldogs led second place Augusta State by 21 shots as the Jaguars shot 832 (-20).
Russell Henley led UGA with a -13 total of 200 to tie UAB’s Zac Sucher for medalist honors. Henley shot a final round 66 (-5) as three UGA players finished in the top 10 as Harris English (206, -7) finished tied for sixth and Adam Mitchell (207, -6) tied for eighth.
Jonathan Hodge led the way for the Mocs with a 69 (-2) to finish tied for 23rd at 210 (-3). He was followed by Fredrik Qvicker (t38, 71-70-72=213 E), Derek Rende (t58, 72-68-75=215 +2), Ben Rickett (t65, 69-73-74=216 +3) and J.T. Clendenin (t121, 77-72-76=225 +12).
Ten teams and two individuals on non-advancing teams move on to the NCAA Finals at Purdue May 28-31. The teams are Georgia, Augusta State, Cal-Irvine, Mississippi State, UAB, Auburn, Charlotte, East Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee and Virginia. The individuals qualifying for nationals are Georgia State’s Joel Sjoholm (-8) and Virginia Tech’s Jurrian van der Vaart (-7).
Senior Matt Cook Posts Best-Ever Finish at NCAA East Regional; Catamounts Finish
Tied for 20th in First Post-season Appearance
Cook double-bogeyed final hole to miss final two transfer spots for National
Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn. ? Western Carolina senior golfer Matt Cook just missed the final transfer spot to qualify for the NCAA National Championship Saturday, leading the Catamounts with a career-best 16th-place finish at the NCAA East Regional held at the par 71, 6,961 Council Fire Golf Club. WCU finished tied for 20th overall in the 27-team field with a 54-hole score of 864.
After posting birdie on the par 3, 206-yard 17th, Cook needed to at least par the final hole of the three-day event to force a play-off for one of the two finaltransfer spots to qualify for the national championship at seven-under par. However, the Murphy, N.C., native hit into a hazard and shot double-bogey on the par 4, 484-yard 18th to finish his final round with a two-over, 73, for a three-day total of five-under, 208.
Cook’s final score tied for the third-best, individual 54-hole score in school history, two off the all-time record of 206 also carded by Cook this season. This weekend’s score for Cook was 15 strokes lower than his previous NCAA tournament low of 223 fired last year in the 2007 East Regional. His score was also eight shots lower than the 219 he posted during the season-opening Scenic City Invitational held at the same course back in September.
All told, Cook finished tied for seventh with 15 birdies with one eagle, and was tied for 10th with a seven-under scoring average on the par 5 holes during the tournament.
Western’s team 864 for the event ranks as the fifth-best in school history. Three of the best rounds in the WCU record book were shot this season, including the lowest team, three-round score of 843 at the Xavier Invitational and the third-best, 860, carded at the Mizuno Southbridge Intercollegiate ? both coming during the fall of 2007.
Overall, 10 teams and two individuals on non-advancing teams move on to the NCAA Finals at Purdue May 28-31. The teams are Georgia ? which blistered the field with a 41-under, 811, to win by 21 strokes over second-place, Augusta State; Cal-Irvine, Mississippi State, UAB, Auburn, Charlotte, East Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee and Virginia. The individuals qualifying for nationals are Georgia State’s Joel Sjoholm (-8) and Virginia Tech’s Jurrian van der Vaart (-7).
Event host and Southern Conference champion, Chattanooga, finished tied for 12th.
WCU junior Andres Cuenca posted the best final round for Western with a one-over, 72, to finish tied for 100th with a three-day score of 221, tied for his fourth-best outing of the season. Cuenca was as low as two-under on the back nine, but bogeyed three of his final five holes to finish over par.
Rounding out Western’s scores at the event were junior transfer Dustin Furnari and sophomore Ricky Stout who finished tied for 104 with identical, 54-hole scores of 222, with freshman teammate Caleb Marsh one stroke in arrears at 223 in a tie for 113th in the 141-golfer field.
Western Carolina concludes its 2007-08 season after making its’ first-ever trip to a NCAA Regional as a squad. On the season, the Catamounts recorded eight top 10 finishes, including six inside the top five as a team with one team championship and a pair of runner-up finishes.
UNCG’s Nathan Stamey shoots even-par 72 to record Top 50 finish at NCAA West Regional
BREMERTON, WA ? UNC Greensboro senior Nathan Stamey closed out his collegiate career with an even-par round of 72 in the final round of the NCAA West Regional at Gold Mountain GC on Saturday.
Stamey, a product of Canton, NC, finished at seven-over par for the tournament to place tied for 42nd place among 141 golfers. Slotted fifth in the individual seeding, he finished second among the six individual competitors.
It was the first time that a Spartan has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament in the Division I era. The last UNCG men’s golfer to earn a spot in the tournament came 21 years ago when Todd Jackson earned a place in the Division III Tournament as an individual. Only one Spartan has ever won a national title ? Ryan Fox in 1981.
Starting on the back side of the course that had given him problems in the first two rounds, Stamey hung tough on Saturday. He bogeyed No. 10 to open the day. After a par at No. 11, he bogeyed the 12th. Stamey then had a par on No. 13 before a double-bogey at No. 14. But Stamey battled back with a par at 15 and 17 and birdies at 16 and 18 to finish the back in 38 ? his best score for that side all weekend.
Stamey then played the front side in 34 with four birdies ? Nos. 2, 4, 6 and 9 ? and just two bogeys to complete the round.
Oregon’s Joey Bendetti was the wire-to-wire leader to earn the regional’s individual championship. He shot his third consecutive round of 69 to win by four shots over a trio of golfers.
Southern California won the team honors for the regional, carding a team score of 862. Other teams to advance from the West Regional are Oregon, Clemson, Washington, UCLA, Stanford, Saint Mary and Arizona State. San Diego State, Pepperdine and Texas were slated to begin a three-way playoff for the final two spots starting at 10:30 pm ET.
A total of 30 teams ? 10 from each regional ? and six individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, May 28-31 at Purdue in West Lafayette, IN. Stamey will not be part of the advancing group, however.
Lytle Caps Stellar Career at NCAA West Regional
BREMERTON, Wash. ? Elon University senior Jimmy Lytle (Ocean Ridge, Fla./Pope John Paul II) fashioned a nine-over-par 81 in the third round of the 2008 NCAA Division I West Regional Men’s Golf Championship Saturday at the Gold Mountain Golf Club, falling from a second-round share of 18th place to finish in a tie for 63rd place in the 141-player field.
The first Phoenix golfer to compete in an NCAA regional since Elon officially joined the Division I level nine years ago, Lytle (74-72-81?227) was one of six individuals to join the 27 teams participating at the regional event hosted by University of Washington. During the final round, Lytle shot par on 10 holes and birdied on another one, but bogeyed five times to go with a double bogey and a triple bogey.
University of Oregon’s Joey Benedetti (69-69-69?207) finished the three-day event nine strokes under par on Gold Mountain’s 7,111-yard Olympic Course. University of Southern California’s Rory Hie (72-70-69?211), Saint Mary’s College’s Michael McRae (72-69-70?211) and Washington’s Nick Taylor (71-69-71?211) all claimed a share of runner-up accolades in the 54-hole tournament.
Before regional play, Lytle fashioned a sizzling 72.22 scoring average for 32 rounds ? the third-best average in the Southern Conference for the 2007-08 season. The three-time All-SoCon player and the four-time team MVP finished in a tie for fourth place at the 2008 SoCon Championship. This spring, he was named the SoCon Golfer of the Week twice and the SoCon Athlete of the Month once.