SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Second-seeded Florida opened as it was ranked, totaling 1-under 279 in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships Central Regional at the Warren Golf Course of the University of Notre Dame.
Coach Buddy Alexander’s Gators, ranked No. 11 nationally, trail top-seeded and No. 2 Stanford by two strokes heading into Friday’s second round at the par-70, 7,023-yard Warren Golf Course, a design by PGA Tour Hall of Fame player Ben Crenshaw and design partner Bill Coore that opened in 1999.
Junior Bank Vongvanij opened with a 2-under-par 68 that left him tied for sixth place and two strokes behind Michigan’s Alexander Sitompul, who carded a 4-under-par 66 to take the individual lead. Vongvanij started his round with 16 straight pars and ended it with back-to-back birdies for his 68.
“We played solid today in spite of a shaky start,” Alexander said. “The team really turned things around on (Nos.) 4 and 5. Bank was terrific today and it was a great round for him. We are playing with the No. 1 seed in Stanford, which is also leading after today. Our goal is to win this tournament. In addition to obviously qualifying for the next event, we want to win this. I think we’re in a pretty good spot and we just need to continue to go out and put up solid rounds.”
The top 5 teams and top individual not on those teams after the completion of the 54-hole regional on Saturday will advance to the NCAA finals at The Honors Course in Ooletewah, Tenn., June 1-6.
Making his NCAA postseason debut, freshman Phillip Choi carded a 1-under 69 and is tied for eighth. Choi began his first round with a bogey on his first hole, but he birdied No; 5 before a bogey at No. 7 and a birdie at No. 8. On the back, Choi sandwiched a bogey at No. 16 with birdies at Nos. 15 and 17.
Senior Tyson Alexander carded an even-par 70 to finish in a tie for 13th. Alexander birdied the par-5 fifth hole but bogeyed the par-3 ninth to turn in 35. He then bogeyed No. 10 and No. 15 before making birdies at Nos. 16 and 17.
Fellow senior Tim McKenney opened with a 2-over 72 that left him tied for 29th. McKenney turned in even par after a bogey at No. 1 and a birdie at No. 7, but he bogeyed the 15th and the 18th to finish at 72.
Redshirt junior Andres Echavarria struggled to start his first round and entered the turn at five-over. Echavarria carded a triple bogey on the second hole, followed by a bogey on three. After making a birdie on No. 4, he carded three-straight bogeys on 8, 9 and 10. He rallied back to make six pars and two birdies in his final eight holes to finish at 4-over 74.
“It was pretty much business as usual,” Alexander said. “The golf course is difficult, but there wasn’t anything difficult about today. Scoring conditions were ideal. There was not much wind. It was a perfect day, so if you were going to this place, today would have been the day to do it.”
Stanford got a 3-under 67 out of David Chung, a 1-under 69 by Sihwan Kim and a 70 by Joseph Bramlett on way to its 3-under team effort. Following the Gators in third after an even-par 280 effort was Southeastern Conference rival Louisiana State. Florida State was fourth after a 3-over 283, one shot ahead of Virginia Tech and Northwestern and two shots up on Michigan and Indiana.
“It was set up fair and the breeze was making it pretty challenging because it felt like a lot of the holes were cross breeze,” Stanford head coach Conrad Ray said. “It wasn’t straight up into the wind or downwind so it was one of those things where you have to judge your approaches very well. It’s a great course.”
Sitompul birdied his first three holes and four of his first five to turn in 4-under-par 31 for Michigan. He had two more birdies to offset a pair of bogeys on the back.
“It’s really tough to force the issue on this course even though it is playing at 6,900 yards and if you are driving well,” Sitompul said. “Some of the flags out there were really tucked. I really think it depends on how patient the player is waiting to get the hot putter going. It’s tough flags. It’s a championship course out there for sure.”
Florida tees off alongside first-place Stanford and fourth-place FSU for the second-consecutive day beginning at 9:10 a.m.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
REGIONALS
CENTRAL / Warren Golf Course (7,023 yards, par 70) / University of Notre Dame / South Bend, Ind. / Thursday, May 20 first round
TEAM SCORES
Top 5 teams advance to NCAA Championships, The Honors Course, Ooltewah, Tenn., June 1-6.
1. (2) STANFORD 277 (-3): T13. Joseph Bramlett 70 (E); T2. David Chung 67 (-3); T21. Steve Ziegler 71 (+1); T8. Sihwan Kim 69 (-1); T21. Andrew Yun 71 (+1).
2. (11) FLORIDA 279 (-1): T13. Tyson Alexander 70 (E); T29. Tim McKenney 72 (+2); T6. Bank Vongvanij 68 (-2); T47. Andres Echavarria 74 (+4); T8. Phillip Choi 69 (-1).
3. (26) LOUISIANA STATE 280 (E): T13. Andrew Loupe 70 (E); T13. Sang Yi 70 (E); T47. Clayton Rotz 74 (+4); T36. Austin Gutgsell 73 (+3), T2. John Peterson 67 (-3).
4. (15) FLORIDA STATE 283 (+3): T52. Brooks Koepka 75 (+5); T63. Seath Lauer 77 (+7); T2. Wesley Graham 67 (-3); T8. Drew Kittleson 69 (-1); T29. Michael Hebert 72 (+2).
5. (tie) VIRGINIA TECH 284 (+4): T13. Mikey Moyers 70 (E); T29. Marshall Bailey 72 (+2); T13. Blake Redmond 70 (E); T36. Jacob Everts 73 (+3); T29. Garland Green 72 (+2); NORTHWESTERN 284 (+4): T36. David Lipsky 73 (+3); T21. Eric Chun 71 (+1); T2. Josh Dupont 67 (-3); T36. Jonathan Bowers 73 (+3); T52. Sam Chien 75 (+5).
7. (tie) (46) MICHIGAN 285 (+5): T21. Matt Thompson 71 (+1); T47. Lion Kim 74 (+4); T52. Jack Schultz 75 (+5); 1. Alexander Sitompul 66 (-4); T47. Rahul Bakshi 74 (+4); INDIANA 285 (+5): T58. Alex Martin 76 (+6); T8. David Erdy 69 (-1); T6. Chase Wright 68 (-2); T36. Brant Peaper 73 (+3); T52. Corey Ziedonis 75 (+5).
9. (38) IOWA 288 (+8): T21. Brad Hopfinger 71 (+1); T63. Barrett Kelpin 77 (+7); T21. Vince India (+1); T21. Chris Brant 71 (+1); T52. Brad George 75 (+5).
10. (36) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 289 (+9): T8. Matt Hill 69 (-1); T36. Adam Hogue 73 (+3); T68. Brad Revell 78 (+8); T13. Mitchell Sutton 70 (E); T63. Mark McMillen 77 (+7).
11. (23) DUKE 292 (+12): T36. Brinson Paolini 73 (+3); T63. Wes Roach 77 (+7); T13. Adam Long 70 (E); T47. Julian Suri 74 (+4); T52. Spencer Anderson 75 (+5).
12. (tie) DETROIT MERCY 297 (+17): T68. David Byrne 78 (+8); T58. Britt Pronk 76 (+6); T58. Jeff Clarridge 76 (+6); T36. Simon Reyers 73 (+3); T29. Brian Sparks 72 (+2); MURRAY STATE 297 (+17): T68. Nick Newcomb 78 (+8); T58. Cameron Carrico 76 (+6); T36. Jared Wolfe 73 (+3); T58. Chris Griffin 76 (+6); T29. Patrick Newcomb 72 (+2).
14. ST. FRANCIS, PA. 319 (+39): T68. Joey Amelia 78 (+8); 74. Vincent Adams 84 (+14); 72. Adam Simpson 80 (+10); T63. Tyler Straub 77 (+4); 75. Ryan Coccagna 85 (+15).
INDIVIDUALS
21. (tie) Ben Pisani (Minnesota) 71 (+1); 29. (tie) Jack Newman (Michigan State) 72 (+2); 36. (tie) Ryan Stocke (Youngstown State) and Erich Johnston (Purdue) 73 (+3); 73. Doug Hoppe (Iona) 82 (+12).
Top 20
1.Alexander Sitompul (Michigan) 66 (-4).
2.(tie) Wesley Graham (Florida State) 67 (-3); John Peterson (Louisiana State) 67 (-3); David Chung (Stanford) 67 (-3); Josh Dupont (Northwestern) 67 (-3).
6.(tie) Bank Vongvanij (Florida) 68 (-2); Chase Wright (Indiana) 68 (-2).
8.(tie) Phillip Choi (Florida) 69 (-1); Sihwan Kim (Stanford) 69 (-1); Drew Kittleson (Florida State) 69 (-1); Matt Hill (North Carolina State) 69 (-1); David Erdy (Indiana) 69 (-1).
13.(tie) Mitchell Sutton (North Carolina State) 70 (E); Tyson Alexander (Florida) 70 (E); Adam Long (Duke) 70 (E); Joseph Bramlett (Stanford) 70 (E); Sang Yi (Louisiana State) 70 (E); Andrew Loupe (Louisiana State) 70 (E); Blake Redmond (Virginia Tech) 70 (E); Mikey Moyers (Virginia Tech) 70 (E).