Eagle Golf in Fifth-Place Tie at NCAA Southeast Regional
Blondell leads charge with 3-under 69
OCALA, Fla. - The Georgia Southern Golf team began the 2011 NCAA Southeast Regional by shooting a first-round 285 (-3) for a fifth-place tie with Oregon on Thursday, May 19th. Senior Logan Blondell led the Eagle charge with a 3-under 69 to go into the second round in a tie for eighth place. Florida, playing host to the 14-team field at the par-72, 6,994-yard Golden Ocala Golf Club, leads the tournament with a 6-under 282. Oregon's Jack Dukeminier sits atop the individual standings with a 6-under 66.
"We got off to a good start and we are now one third of the way through," said Head Coach Larry Mays. "Logan's (Blondell) 69 was a good round and Florian (Sander) had three incredible up-and-downs around the course today. Hayden (Anderson) and Matt (Deal) also played very well today. We did our job today and need to do that the rest of the way to advance. Our team had four good rounds today, but we are going to need eight more solid rounds to have a shot at going to the next level."
Georgia Southern tied its best opening round score to par at an NCAA Regional in program history at 3-under. The previous best round came in 2005 when the Eagles shot a 3-under 281 at the par-71 Country Club of Tennessee to open the NCAA East Regional. The 18 holes played by GSU on Thursday also marks the second-consecutive outing that the Eagles have carded one of their three lowest rounds of the season.
"We are focused and have the mentality that we want to play our best golf at the end of the year," stated Mays on the team's performance so far. "They set some goals and want to achieve them. They are relaxed and having fun which leads to good scores."
Only four teams are in front of Georgia Southern, the 2011 Southern Conference Champion, as the second round of the 54-hole tournament resumes tomorrow, May 20th. The Eagles are three strokes behind Florida (-3) and two off of second-place Arkansas (-5). Baylor and N.C. State are tied for third place at 4-under. The top five teams in the regional advance to the NCAA Championships at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla., May 31st-June 5th.
Finishing second at the 2010 NCAA Southeast Regional in Atlanta, Blondell started this year's regional in contention for individual medalist honors again. The Lakeland, Fla., native carded two birdies on the front nine to start the final nine holes at even-par. Blondell stayed in red for the remainder of the day with back-to-back birdies on the par-3 11th and par-5 12th and concluded his bogey free back-nine with a birdie on the par-5 18th for a 3-under 69.
Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria) finished the first day in an 11th-place tie with a 1-under 71. The sophomore played the front-nine at 1-under par, before firing birdies on the 10th and 18th holes to maintain his position. Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.) is one stroke behind Sander at even-par 72. Deal's clean front-nine, along with three birdies on the back-nine helped the senior close the first round in a 25th-place tie.
Hayden Anderson (Knoxville, Tenn.), who had the Eagles' first tee time of the day, sparked the team's round with two birdies on the first five holes. Anderson made the turn at even-par and used a birdie on the 11th hole to end his round at 1-over in a tie for 32nd place. The 73 carded by the freshman ties his second-lowest round since March, when he shot a first-round 73 at the Schenkel Invitational. Junior Lewis Gruber (Tallahassee, Fla.) finished out his first round at 11-over.
Georgia Southern is paired with Oregon and N.C. State for the second round. Lewis Gruber tees off first for the Eagles at 8:50 a.m. on hole No.1. Each player will follow in 10-minute increments.
Live round-by-round scoring of the Southeast Regional is available at www.golfstat.com.
Mocs in Seventh as Play is Suspended at NCAA Colorado Regional
Freshman Chris Robb led Chattanooga with a -2, 70, as the team shot +3, 291
ERIE, Colo.---The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf team is in seventh as play was suspended at the NCAA Colorado Regional at Colorado National Golf Club Thursday. Chattanooga shot a three-over par 291 and is one stroke behind TCU in sixth.
Chris Robb (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) fired a two-under par 70 to lead the Mocs. He tied his season high with six birdies on his round including a key stretch of four consecutive birdies on his 12th through 15th holes.
Robb got off to a slow start. After a birdie on his third hole, he followed with a bogey and double bogey to fall to plus three. He tallied five birdies and eight pars the rest of the way in to shoot 70.
"Chris was outstanding after a tough start," said head coach Mark Guhne. "He played very well in difficult conditions. It would have been easy to shoot a high number after the double on 14, but he battled and got to two under."
With temperatures in the high 30s at the start of the round, it was difficult from the start. Wind chills never reached 40 either, but it did not completely limit scoring.
No. 1 Oklahoma State shot 12-under par 276. The Cowboys lead No. 13 Auburn in second at 280 (-8). No. 24 Arizona State's 282 (-6) places it in third.
Colorado State's Zahkai Brown is the individual leader at seven under through 16 holes. OSU's Sean Einhaus is the leader in the clubhouse with a 66 (-6).
Robb is tied for seventh at minus two. Stephan Jaeger (Munich, Germany) and Benni Weilguni (Langelois, Austria) are tied for 35th with twin rounds of 73 (+1).
Steven Fox (Hendersonville, Tenn.) rounded out the team scoring with a three-over par 75. Davis Bunn (Knoxville, Tenn.) had the drop score with a 77 (+5).
No. 25 Clemson is in the all important fifth spot at 289 (+1) just two shots clear of the Mocs. Seven teams are still on the course with anywhere from one to six holes to play.
"It was a good day for us," Guhne added. "I'm pleased overall. Benni and Chris were great, especially for freshmen to overcome bad breaks early. Jaeger was solid although I know he's not pleased with his round. It's one of the reasons he is as good as he is.
"We'll come out tomorrow morning and try to keep moving forward," Guhne concluded. "We have a lot of golf ahead of us."
The Mocs return to the course Friday morning with tee times starting at 10:30 a.m. Today's suspended round will be completed at 8 a.m., with the field re-paired for the second round. Follow live hole-by-hole scoring via men's golf schedule page on GoMocs.com.
Davidson's Fountain In Seventh After Even-Par First Round at NCAA Va. Tech Regional
RADFORD, Va. - Davidson freshman Richard Fountain was the lone player to shoot an even-par first round, and sits in seventh place, four strokes off the lead at the NCAA Men's Golf Virginia Tech Regional Thursday at the Pete Dye River Course at Virginia Tech.
Fountain was consistent all day, never ranging one below or above par as he tallied four birdies and four bogeys on the challenging Par-72, 7658-yard course. He will tee off from hole No. 10 Friday at 10:10 a.m. for the second round of the 54-hole tournament.
Three players not on the top-five teams rank ahead of Fountain, with just one able to earn a bid to the NCAA National Championship.
No. 18 Kyle Scott of Georgia Tech leads the field at 68, four-under par. Abraham Ancer (Oklahoma) is in second place at 69, three-under par, and Josh Brock (UNC Wilmington), Vaita Guillaume (Campbell), Payne McLeod (UNC Wilmington) and Brinson Paolini (Duke) are all tied at a one-under 71. Six players are tied behind Fountain at one-over par.
No. 4 Georgia Tech leads the field at 289, one-over par, and is trailed by No. 16Duke (295, +7), Kent State (296, +8), Oklahoma (296, +8) and Coastal Carolina (299, +11).
The low-scoring five teams and the lowest scoring individual not on one of those teams will advance to the NCAA National Championship May 31-June 5 at Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Okla.
Fountain was even through the first four holes before he made a difficult approximately 30-foot uphill putt on the par-3 fifth hole for birdie. He bogeyed the next hole though and finished the front-nine at an even-par 36.
Fountain started the back-nine with a bogey on hole No. 10, then birdied No. 12 before recording another bogey on No. 13 to go one-over. He rallied on the 16th- and 17th-holes though with a pair of birdies before bogeying the challenging 18th hole. Fountain's shot from the fairway on the par-4 final hole nearly went into the river, but he made a difficult shot off the steep riverbank to get the ball on the green and prevent any damage.
The Raleigh, N.C. freshman is the first Davidson golfer to compete in an NCAA regional golf tournament since the regional tournament format was adopted in 1989. He became the first Davidson golfer since Rusty Boyd in 1973 to win individual medalist honors at the SoCon Tournament in April, thus earning the league's automatic individual bid to the NCAA Regional.
Brazeal Shoots 78 on Day One of NCAA Regional
RADFORD, VA. -- Chandler Brazeal finished with an opening round 78 (+6) on the 7,685 yard par-72 Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech and sits tied for 54th in NCAA Regional.
Brazeal sits seven shots back of the individual leader Vaita Guillaume of Campbell, who carded a 71 (-1).
"I was a little rusty, but it was pretty fun out there today," Brazeal said. "Everything was slightly, and I just couldn't get the ball in the hole. The course is long and tight. It is weird because it looks like an open course, but the fairways are tight and narrow. If you miss you were in deep rough."
He opened the round just before 10:30 a.m. eastern time with three straight pars, before suffering back-to-back bogeys on a holes three, a 497 yard par-4, and four, a 235 yard par-3. He finished the front nine with a three more pars and a birdie on the 426 yard par-4 eighth hole with a 37 (+1) at the turn.
Brazeal opened the back nine with a bogey on the 424 yard par-4 tenth hole and a bogey on 583 yard par-5 12th. He rattled off three straight pars on 13, 14 and 15 before closing the round with bogeys on the par-5 590 yard 16th hole, par-3 243 yard 17th hole and par-4 496 yard 18th hole to complete the round.
"I got frustrated and lost focus the last three holes and the wind picked up so it made those holes tough," Brazeal said of his final three holes.
"He shot a 78 on a really hard golf course," head coach Vic Lipscomb said. "He drove the ball really well. For him not picking up a club in a week he did real well. I think he is going to be alright."
Brazeal will tee off Friday morning for the second round of the NCAA Regional.