Mocs third in NCAA golf finals
Georgia, OSU Cowboys share first-round lead
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Georgia tied for first
Georgia shared the first-round lead at the NCAA golf tournament with Oklahoma State at 288. Tennessee is tied for sixth at 294.
Northwestern’s Jonathan Bowers, Illinois’ Scott Langley and North Carolina State’s Matt Hill are the individual leaders at 2-under-par 69.
Former Baylor golfer Harris English shot a 73 for Georgia, and McCallie graduate Adam Mitchell had the Bulldogs’ drop score of 79. Matt Hughes from Dalton shot a 77 for Alabama.
All but two college golf teams in the country are looking up at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Hundreds are looking from home, unable to reach the NCAA championship field at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Those squads were eliminated in the regionals or even before.
There are 27 that reached the championship tournament but didn’t play as well as the Mocs. Only No. 1-ranked Oklahoma State and No. 2 Georgia are ahead of UTC on the leaderboard after the first round.
The UTC playes combined to shoot 8-over-par 292. The Cowboys and Bulldogs are tied for first at 288.
“I’m feeling pretty sporty right now,” coach Mark Guhne said via cell phone shortly after the Mocs posted their score. “We had a very good morning. I’ll take two more rounds like that and see what happens.”
After 54 holes, the top eight teams will be seeded for match play to determine the national champion.
“We’ve worked hard all year and we’ve been doing the right things as of late,” Guhne said. “It’s a pretty good feeling.”
The Mocs were among the first six teams to take the course, and they started on No. 10. They were the leaders in the clubhouse for most of the day, until the final OSU and UGA players signed their cards.
“The guys really were as loose as you can be in a national championship,” Guhne said. “They were feeling good and it was a lot of fun to watch.”
The fun and goofiness began Monday during their practice round, when a baseball game broke out in the middle of the No. 2 fairway.
While waiting for a group on the green in front of them, UTC junior Derek Rende started bunting golf balls with his clubs. Then somebody dropped bases, spotters joined the action and Matt Pope umpired. Rende pitched — literally. Short wedge shots served as the pitches that batters needed to hit.
“The guys got pretty good at it,” Guhne said. “The other teams were looking at us like, ‘Ya’ll are crazy.’
“Then we went to dinner and sat in the middle of a bachelorette party.”
Tuesday began with a different sort of party for UTC, a birdie-fest. Rende started the festivities again with three straight birdies. Stephan Jaeger followed with three while Jonathan Hodge and Fredrik Qvicker made two each. UTC shot 12 under through its first six holes.
The Mocs needed those shots because they shot 12 over on the front nine, their finishing side. They will begin play today at 12:30 p.m. on No. 1.
“You have to score on the back because Nos. 3 through 7 might be the toughest stretch anywhere,” Guhne said. “You’re going to drop some shots going through there.”
Qvicker led UTC with an even-par 71. Rende used his clubs for their designed purpose and shot 2 over. Jaeger and Hodge shot 74s with Ben Rickett having the drop score of 7 over.
“The guys were seeing all the red numbers thrown up there, and it got everybody motivated and feeling good,” Guhne said. “It’s cool when things like that happen. You get that feeling running through the team and they feed off each other.”
