SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Florida men’s golf team faces a long day Saturday if it hopes to qualify for the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships finals June 1-6 at The Honors Course near Chattanooga, Tenn.
With all five of his players with anywhere between two and five holes to play, coach Buddy Alexander is hoping a brand-new day will shake off the doldrums that seemed to follow his team during Friday’s weather-suspended second round of the NCAA Central Regional at the University of Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course.
The Gators, who started the day two strokes behind first-round leader Stanford with a 1-under 279 total, were 6-over-par for the round when rains and a thunderstorm postponed the finish of the second round until Saturday morning at 8. Following the second round’s completion, the third round will start immediately, and the Gators will have to come back ready to play if they hope to advance as one of five teams that qualify for the finals field.
“We didn’t play particularly well (Friday),” Alexander said. “We are a couple shots off the bubble so (Saturday) will be a big day for us. I think we will step up and get a good round in.”
Top-seeded Stanford still holds custody of first place at 4-under-par. Florida State is in second at 1-under-par and Northwestern is third at 2-over-par. Then comes the Gators at 5-over-par, a shot ahead of Michigan, two shots ahead of Iowa and three shots ahead of Duke. Louisiana State was in eighth place, five shots behind the Gators.
Only Michigan, Iowa and Indiana had finished their play for the day when the storms came. The Wolverines totaled a 1-over-par 281 and were at 566. Iowa shot 1-under 279 for 567 and Indiana shot 286 for a two-day total of 571 that left the Hoosiers tied with Virginia Tech at 11-over-par.
Individually for Florida, freshman Phillip Choi, who opened with a 1-under 69, was 1-over for the round and even for the tournament playing the 14th hole. Redshirt junior Andres Echavarria, who shot 74 on Thursday, was through 16 holes and 1-under for the round, 3-over for the tourney. Junior Bank Vongvanij, who opened with a 68 Thursday, was also 3-over for the tournament and 5-over for the round through 13 holes.
Senior Tim McKenney, who opened with a 2-over-par 72, was 2-over on his second round through 15 holes. Fellow senior Tyson Alexander, who shot an opening, even-par 70, was 4-over for the day through 14 holes.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
REGIONALS
CENTRAL / Warren Golf Course (7,023 yards, par 70) / University of Notre Dame / South Bend, Ind. / Friday, May 21 second round (suspended)
Teams and individuals return Saturday morning at 8 a.m. to conclude the second round and then will play the third round afterward. Teams and individuals that have completed their second rounds will have their total followed by two rounds in parentheses. The top 5 teams and one individual not on those teams advance to NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships finals at The Honors Course, Ooltewah, Tenn., June 1-6.
TEAM SCORES
1. Stanford (-3); 2. Florida State (-1); 3. Northwestern (+2); 4. Florida (+5); 5. Michigan 566 (285-281) (+6); 6. Iowa 567 (288-279) (+7); 7. Duke (+8); 8. Louisiana State (+10); 9. (tie) Indiana 571 (285-286) (+11) and Virginia Tech (+11); 11. North Carolina State (+12); 12. Murray State (+29); 13. Detroit Mercy (+31); 14. St. Francis, Pa. (+58).
INDIVIDUALS
(-4): T1. Matt Thompson (Michigan) 136 (71-65); Drew Kittleson (Florida State) (through 17); Wesley Graham (Florida State) (through 16).
(-3): 4. David Chung (Stanford) (through 13).
(-2): T5. Josh Dupont (Northwestern) (through 16); Sihwan Kim (Stanford) (through 13).
(-1) T7. Chris Bryant (Iowa) 139 (71-68); David Erdy (Indiana) 139 (69-70); Brad Hopfinger (Iowa) 139 (71-68); Eric Chun (Northwestern) (through 17); Steve Ziegler (Stanford) (through 15); Matt Hill (North Carolina State) (through 14).
Florida scores
(E): T13. Phillip Choi (through 13).
(+3): T28. Bank Vongvanij (through 13); Andres Echavarria (through 16).
(+4): T36. Tyson Alexander (through14); Tim McKenney (through 15).