Western Carolina’s Poston 13th at NCAA Championships
BRADENTON, Fla. – Western Carolina men’s golf senior J.T. Poston shot 1-under-par 71 on Friday to sit in an 11-way tie for 13th after the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship being held at the par-72, 7,483-yard Concession Golf Club. Poston, who is just three strokes off the lead, made the turn at 1-under-par before playing the back nine even, countering two bogeys with a couple of birdies.
Paired with the same two individuals as Friday – Michigan’s Kyle Mueller and Robin Sciot-Siegrist of Louisville – Poston tees off on the back nine at 9 a.m. Saturday in the second round.
Opening his first round on the front nine, Poston countered a first-hole bogey with a birdie on the par-5 third to move back to even-par through three holes. After four consecutive pars, the Hickory, N.C., native carded a second birdie on the par-4 eighth to move to under par for the first time on the day, eventually making the turn at 1-under-par.
A bogey on the par-4 10th moved Poston back to even par – but it was short-lived as the Catamount fourth-year striker bounced back to card birdie on the par-3 11th to return to 1-under for the day. His fourth birdie of the round moved Poston to 2-under and into a tie inside the tournament’s top five with five holes to play.
Following a third bogey on No. 14 that dropped him back to 1-under for the round, Poston came home with a second run of four straight pars, finishing the back nine even to shoot 71.
Overall after 18 holes, Poston ranks among the top nine individuals that would transfer into Monday’s fourth round of individual play.
Thomas Detry of Illinois and South Florida’s Claudio Correa are tied for the lead atop the 156-golfer individual field after 18 holes, both carding a 4-under 68. Detry has helped guide the fourth-ranked Fighting Illini to the top of the team leaderboard after the first day with a 2-under-par 286. Illinois holds a two-stroke lead over Georgia (288), with Southern California (289), San Diego State (290) and LSU (292) rounding out the top five teams.
ETSU’s Kristjansson sinks hole-in-one at NCAA Championships
BRADENTON, Fla. – ETSU’s Gudmundur Kristjansson enjoyed the first few holes of his opening round at the NCAA Championship on Friday at Concession Golf Club.
Kristjansson, who birdied the first two holes of his round, followed that up with a hole-in-one on the par-3, 183-yard No. 6; however, things quickly turned for the ETSU junior after the ace. The Buccaneer was 3-under when standing at the No. 7 tee box, but Kristjansson played the final 12 holes at 9-over to finish 6-over-par 78, placing him tied for 108th after 18 holes of competition.
South Florida’s Claudio Correa and Illinois’ Thomas Detry hold a share of the lead at 4-under-par 68, while two golfers are one shot back and eight players are two strokes off the lead.
Kristjansson is the first Buccaneer to record an ace since teammate Rhys Pugh accomplished the feat on Oct. 7, 2013, at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate.
The Reykjavik, Iceland, native, who carded a 63 back in March en route to winning the Seminole Intercollegiate, will look to bounce back over the weekend and climb up the leaderboard. The top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team move into Monday’s final round, where the 72-hole individual champion will be crowned.
After getting off to an early start on Friday, Kristjansson’s second round won’t get underway until 2:20 p.m. on Saturday. Kristjansson will start from No. 10 in round two.