Kristjansson leads, ETSU second at NCAA San Diego Regional
SAN DIEGO – Led by juniors Gudmundur Kristjansson and Adrian Meronk, the ETSU men’s golf team sits in second place following the opening round of the NCAA Regional on Thursday afternoon at The Farms Golf Club in San Diego.
The 39th-ranked Buccaneers carded a 1-over-par 289 and enter Friday’s second round five shots back of leader and No. 14 Oklahoma. ETSU finished the day strongly as three of its five golfers birdied the final hole to move into second.
ETSU, which was seeded seventh in the 13-team regional, is ahead of five of the top six teams as top seed and third-ranked Arizona State is in ninth place at 12-over 300. Georgia Tech, the second seed in the regional and No. 10-ranked team nationally, is tied for seventh at 11-over 299 and No. 25 Virginia (fifth seed) is tied for fifth at 9-over 297. Fourth-seeded and 22nd-ranked New Mexico (15-over 303) and sixth seed/No. 29 Georgia (19-over 307) are in 11th and 12th place after day one.
The top five teams following Saturday’s final round advance to the NCAA Championship, which is held May 29-June 3 at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
Individually, Kristjansson is tied for first after firing a 3-under 69, while Meronk is one shot back at 2-under 70. Kristjansson, a two-time winner this season, totaled five birdies and a pair of bogeys in the opener and is tied with Oklahoma’s Grant Hirschman – who is ranked No. 47 nationally – atop the leaderboard. Kristjansson’s five birdies were tied for the second-most on Thursday as Arizona State’s Jon Rahm led the field with seven, but the second-ranked golfer is tied for 13th at 1-over 73.
Meanwhile, Meronk used an eagle – his ninth of the season – on the par-5, 489-yard No. 9 to help turn things around as it moved him to 1-under before making the turn. From there, the 16th-ranked golfer and SoCon Player of the Year posted a birdie and bogey in two of his first three holes on the back nine before ending the day with a birdie on the par-5, 512-yard No. 18, finishing with his 29th round of par or better this season.
ETSU’s other countable scores included sophomore Mateusz Gradecki’s 2-over 74 and junior Chris Hickman’s 4-over 76. Gradecki is tied for tied for 21st and Hickman – playing for the first time since March 9-10 at the General Hackler Championship – is tied for 42nd.
The Bucs are paired with Oklahoma and Wichita State in Friday’s second round and tee off at 12:15 p.m. (EDT).
Western Carolina’s Poston tied for third at NCAA Chapel Hill Regional
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Western Carolina individual competitor J.T. Poston carded six birdies on Thursday including four on the back nine to fire a 4-under-par 68 to sit amidst a six-way tie for third place after the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Golf Chapel Hill Regional at the par-72, 7,242-yard UNC Finley Golf Course.
Paired with Jeremy Wall from 13th-place Loyola-Maryland and individual competitor Ashton Van Horne from Belmont, Poston is scheduled to tee off on the back nine beginning at 10:34 a.m. in the final pairing off of No. 10.
Poston birdied two of his first four holes on Thursday morning to quickly move to 2-under-par, where he remained until a bogey on the par-4 ninth left him at 1-under-par at the turn. The senior moved back to 2-under-par with his third birdie on the par-4 10th in the first hole of the back nine.
A product of Hickory, N.C., Poston charted a second bogey on the par-3 12th. However, he rallied to record three consecutive birdies between the 13th and 15th holes, moving to 4-under-par. He closed his round with three straight pars to put the finishing touches on the 4-under-par 68.
All told, Poston’s six birdies on Thursday were the second-most carded in the opening round by any golfer. He is also tied for the tournament-lead in par-4 scoring at 3-under, 3.70.
The regional tournament resumes with tee times at 8:20 a.m. on Friday. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams after Saturday’s final round will advance to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, May 29 through June 1 at The Concessions Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., hosted by the University of South Florida.
Mercer’s Rule 4-over at NCAA Chapel Hill Regional
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Mercer University senior Trey Rule opened play at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional on Thursday morning, joining a field of 75 student-athletes in the first round of the event at the University of North Carolina’s Finley Course.
Rule carded a 2-under-par 34 on the opening nine holes of play to rank among the top 10 but suffered a tough end to the day with a 6-over score on his final three holes. He closed the day in 59th place overall with a total score of 76 (4-over).
The Eatonton, Ga., native has been in this position before, however, using a 6-under second round to rally from a slow start at the Southern Conference Championship and finish fourth overall.
North Carolina’s William Register led all performers with a 6-under 66, while Charlotte had three players tied for third en route to topping the team standings with a 13-under score of 275.
The second day of the NCAA Chapel Regional will kick at 8 a.m. Friday, as Rule is slated for a 9:50 a.m. tee time at UNC’s Finley Course.