May 18, 2008

NCAA Central Regional, Scarlet Golf Club, Columbus, Ohio

Demon Deacons Win NCAA Central Regional Title

The Wake Forest men's golf team picked the right time to play its best golf of the season. The Deacs posted a 27-over 879 to win the NCAA Central Regional in Columbus, Ohio by 10 strokes.

Wake has won three NCAA regional titles since 2005. The Deacs won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.

Wake defeated second-place Oklahoma State by 10 strokes to win the regional and advance to the NCAA Championship for the fourth consecutive year and the 14th time since 1991.

The Scarlet Course at Ohio State has now witnessed two postseason titles for the Deacs, including the 1975 NCAA Championship.

Brendan Gielow carded a three-over 74 in the final round to finish the three-day event in a tie for second place. The finish for the sophomore was the best of his career. Gielow finished the tournament with a 69-72-74=215 (+2).

Dustin Groves added his best finish of the season to propel the Deacs to victory. The junior posted two birdies in the final round to lead Wake and finished the tournament with a 72-70-74=216 (+3).

Jackets Fail to Advance to NCAA Championship

Columbus, Ohio - For the first time since 1997, Georgia Tech's golf team will not be in the NCAA Division I Championship after the 8th-ranked Yellow Jackets shot 18-over-par 302 Saturday and finished 15th at the NCAA Central Regional in Columbus, Ohio.

Under gray skies and winds that with ranged from 20 to 30 miles per hour at the Ohio State University Scarlet Course, the Yellow Jackets were unable to solve the difficult back nine, where they started their round. Head coach Bruce Heppler's team played the front (its second) nine in even par, posting seven birdies coming in.

Freshman J.T. Griffin shot 3-over-par 74 to pace the Jackets on Saturday, while Chesson Hadley and Taylor Hall each posted 4-over 75, and All-American Cameron Tringale shot 78. Tech finished the tournament at 56-over-par 908, seven shots shy of 10th place.

Tech entered the final day tied for 20th place, needing to make up eight shots to reach the top 10. By the time they teed off Saturday, the Jackets had seen the 36-hole leaders post scores in double digits over par, giving the Jackets some hope that with a solid score they could advance to the national tournament.

NCAA West Regional,Gold Mountain Golf Club, Bremerton, Wash.

Clemson Finishes Third at NCAA West Regional

Clemson, SC -- Sam Saunders and Ben Martin both recorded one-under par rounds of 71 on Saturday to lead Clemson to a third place finish at the 27-team NCAA West Regional at the Gold Mountain Country Club in Bremerton, WA. By virtue of the third place finish Clemson will now advance to the NCAA National Tournament at Purdue University May 28-31.

Southern California won the regional tournament with a two-under par team score of 862, while Oregon was second at 864. Clemson was third at 867, just five shots behind the Trojans. Washington was fourth at 874 and UCLA was fifth at 876. Clemson was the only Eastern school to finish in the top five. The Tigers actually had a better score (287 to 288) than Southern California on Saturday.

This is head coach Larry Penley's 25th season and he has now taken the Tigers to the national tournament 23 or those seasons. This year marked the 14th time in 20 previous regional appearances that he has taken Clemson to a fourth place finish or better. This year's third place finish was the best by a Clemson team at the regional since 2004 when the Tigers won the tournament at Yale University.

Clemson had a team score of one under par 287 on Saturday, its second consecutive under par team round. The Tigers did not get off to a good start as a team and stood six over par for the front nine. But, Clemson rallied on the back nine to shoot seven under par as a team, its best nine-hole score of the tournament.

Saunders round of 71 included three birdies on par five holes. He played the last eight holes at three under par, including a birdie on the difficult 16th hole. The sophomore from Windermere, FL improved by a stroke in each round, going from 73 to 72 to 71 in recording an even par 216 for the event. He finished in a tie for 10th, a great improvement over last year when he finished 103rd at the NCAA East Regional.

Carolina Golfers Finish 15th At NCAA West Regional

The University of North Carolina men's golf team fired a six-over-par 294 in the final round of the NCAA West Regional to finish with an 895 total, good for a 15th-place finish. That, unfortunately, was not good enough to advance the Tar Heels to the NCAA Championship as the top 10 teams advance to the finals in West Lafayette, Ind.

Tar Heel junior Chase MacFarland and senior Reed Darsie led the Tar Heels in the final round as each fired an even par 72. MacFarland, from Savannah, Ga., carded a four-over-par 220 total to tie for 25th place while Darsie, from Chapel Hill, finished one stroke back at 221 to tie for 30th place. Henry Zaytoun III, from Raleigh, N.C., carded a 229 total after shooting 78 on Saturday and tied for 79th place. Senior Barden Berry, from Kinston, N.C., finished one shot back at 230 after firing a two-over 74 in the final round and tied for 91st place while ACC Freshman of the Year Kevin O'Connell, from Cary, N.C., carded a 76 for a 232 total and tied for 101st place.

Joey Benedetti of Oregon captured the individual title with a nine-under-par 207 total after three rounds of three-under 69. Three players finished four strokes back in seond place at five-under 211 - Southern California's Rory Hie, Saint Mary's Michael McRae and Washington's Nick Taylor. Sihwan Kim of Stanford placed fifth with a four-under 212.

Seminole Men's Golf Team Finishes In 21st Place At NCAA West Regional Championship

BREMERTON, Wash. - The Florida State men's golf team finished in 21st place in the team standings as play in the NCAA West Regional Championship on the Olympic Course at the Golf Mountain Golf Course came to a close Saturday. The Seminoles were led in the individual standings by senior All-American Jonas Blixt who finished in a tied for 30th place. Neither the Seminoles as a team nor Blixt as an individual qualified to advance to next week's NCAA Championship finals.

Blixt (Hammaro, Sweden) led Florida State in the final standings with a five-over par score of 221 and led the Seminoles during the final round of the event with a two-under par score of 70. It marked the third time in his last five regional championship rounds that he had carded a single round score of even par or better. Blixt's score of 70 tied his regional championship career-low score; he also carded a 70 in the third round of the 2007 NCAA East Regional Championship.

Sophomore Seath Lauer (Huntington, Ind.) finished in second among his Seminole teammates and in a tie for 71st place in the individual standings. He carded scores of 74-76-78 for a three round total of 228. He was followed in the team standings by freshman Drew Kittleson (tied for 114th place), sophomore Cameron Knight (tied for 114th place) and junior Matt Savage (tied for 121st place).

NCAA East Regional, Council Fire Golf Club, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Cavaliers Stage Huge Rally to Earn Berth to NCAA Championships

Chattanooga, TN - The unranked Virginia men's golf team staged a miraculous rally during the final round of the NCAA East Regional Championships to finish 10th and earn the final berth from the regional to the national championships. Virginia's trip to the 30-team NCAAs at Purdue's Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex is the program's first since 2000. The tournament takes place May 28-31.

The Cavaliers entered Saturday's final round in 16th place, nine shots out of 10th place. With play delayed more than two hours due to morning fog, the Cavaliers did not tee off until mid-afternoon at the same time the tournament's leaders were completing their rounds. When Michigan State finished its morning round, the Spartans occupied 10th place at 1-under 851. It would take Virginia's best round of the season to overtake the 24th-ranked Spartans.

That's exactly what the Cavalier golfers combined to do. Virginia shot 8-under 276, the day's second best score, and finished 10th in the 54-hole event at 3-under 849.

Virginia got off to an excellent start as the five UVa players combined for eight birdies over their first two holes. The Cavaliers made the turn at 6-under including 11 birdies. Freshman Will Collins, who led UVa in the final round with a 4-under 67 on the Council Fire Golf Club course, used an eagle on the 11th hole to move to 3-under and finally put UVa in the top 10.

Van der Vaart advances to NCAA Championship

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Virginia Tech golfer Jurrian van der Vaart shot a three-round total of seven-under-par 206 and will advance to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship in West Lafayette, Ind., May 28-31.

Van der Vaart, a senior from Almelo, the Netherlands, shot an even-par 71 on Saturday afternoon. The top 10 teams and two individuals from non-advancing teams advance to the championship. He joins Joel Sjoholm of Georgia State as the individuals advancing out of Chattanooga. Sjoholm shot 205 to advance. Russell Henley of Georgia and Zach Sucher of UAB tied for medalist honors.

The Hokies finished 15th overall with a three-round total of six-over-par 858 after shooting a two-over-par 286 in Saturday's final round at the NCAA East Regional at the 6,961-yard, par 71 Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Drew Weaver (Jr., High Point, N.C.) finished at 215 and was tied for 58th place and Nick MacDonald (Sr., Harare, Zimbabwe) tied for 65th at 216. Aaron Eckstein (Fr., Salem Va.) tied for 121st at 225 and Marshall Bailey (Fr., Fincastle, Va.) was 131st at 227.

NC State Men's Golf Season Ends at NCAA Regionals

Chatanooga, Tenn. - The NC State men's golf team put forth a strong effort in the third round of the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday, but came up short in its bid to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Pack finished at four-under in the final round, but finished in 14th place overall, with only the top-10 teams advancing to the NCAA Championships.

NC State finished at three-over (279-296-280=855) for the three rounds, and finished six strokes out of 10th place. The Pack had a rough day in Friday's second round, but improved 16 strokes in the final round on Saturday, and moved up from 19th to 14th place thanks to three Pack golfers finishing under par.

Freshman Matt Hill was the Pack's top individual finishers, as he placed 38th at even-par for the three rounds. On Saturday, Hill shot a one-under (70) and holed five birdies.

Kent Copeland placed 47th overall at one-over for the tournament. Copeland also had five birdies in the final round, and was at two-under (69) for the day.

Duke Finishes 19th At NCAA East Regional

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. -- The Duke men's golf season came to a close on Saturday as the team shot a final round 295 at Council Fire Golf Club to finish 19th overall with an 11-over 863 at the NCAA East Regional. Senior Michael Schachner and freshman Matthew Pierce paced the Blue Devils in the final round with one-over 72s.

Pierce opened the final round with back-to-back birdies and followed a par on the next hole with two more birdies to move to four-under through five holes of play. He suffered bogeys on No. 16 and No. 18 to make the turn at two-under. Pierce moved back to three-under with a birdie on the par 5 second hole but suffered bogeys on No. 3 and No. 4. He rebounded with three straight pars before running out of stream to finish bogey-bogey for a one-over 72. Pierce closed the tournament with a one-under 212 to finish tied for 35th overall.

Schachner recorded four birdies, nine pars and five bogeys en route to a 72 in his final round of play as a Blue Devil. The Libertyville, Ill., native closed the tournament with a four-over 217 to finish tied for 77th. Schachner ends the year with a 71.75 stroke average, the second lowest season stroke average in school history.