NCAA Regionals are underway in Columbus, Ohio

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Final Round Results (article by gostanford.com):

COLUMBUS, Ohio - After posting a final round 14-over-par 298, Stanford finished in seventh on Saturday at the NCAA D1 Men's Golf Regional to miss advancing to the finals.

On the par-71 Scarlet Course, the top-five teams who will head to the NCAA Championships, in order of finish, are No. 5 (Golfweek) New Mexico, No. 19 Auburn, No. 23 South Carolina, No. 30 UNLV and No. 39 Texas Tech.

The Lobos (294-293-283), won the regional title at 18-over 870, while the Tigers (293-293-286) and the Gamecocks (288-296-288) tied for second at 872. The Rebels (292-292-294) came in third at 878 and the Red Raiders (299-288-292) finished fifth at 879.

The No. 10 Cardinal (291-295-298) trailed Texas Tech by five strokes, recording 884 overall.

Final Team results - click to enlarge

"Extremely tough to not be moving on," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray. "The guys had a great season, and unfortunately it came down to today's round and we ended up on the outside looking in. This group worked really hard all season and they should be proud of their accomplishments."

Patrick Rodgers (72-72-76) recorded a top-20 finish, tying for 18th at seven-over-par 220. The sophomore, who led the team in the second round and was tied for sixth individually, did not make a single birdie today.

After opening with a 77 and following with a 75, Andrew Yun finished with a final round 70 for the team low for the day. The senior made birdies on the second and 11th holes, giving one stroke back with a bogey on the 14th.

"We are all still disappointed about not making it to nationals, but golf is a hard and cruel game," said Yun who tied for 25th at 222. "It wasn't our best week and it came at the wrong time."

Tying for 34th at 223 were freshman David Boote (76-73-74) and junior Cameron Wilson (70-75-78).

Senior Steve Kearney (73-80-78) tied for 63rd at 231. 

"Looking at the past season, there are so many positives," Yun said. "Patrick with three solid victories, Cameron with his amazing 61, David with his extremely solid fall campaign, Steven with his 67 and tied for fourth place finish in Hawaii, and our team win at home. I'm so proud of the guys on the team and even though our hard work didn't pay off this week, it will in the future." 

Round 3 scorecards - click to enlarge

Round Two Results:
The good news is that he Cardinal team is tied for 3rd after two rounds, only two strokes behind the leading two teams.  The bad news is that the top 6 teams are only separated by 3 strokes so the pressure will be on to make the top 5 required to qualify for the national championship.

After these top 6 teams, 5 other teams are within 10 shots of the top 5 cutoff score so almost the entire field is still in the running to move on.  The leader board is shown below:

Team standings - click to enlarge

Patrick Rodgers matched his first round 72 and sits tied for 6th (72-72 144) individually, followed by Cameron Wilson (70-75 145) who is tied for 10th.  The overall individual leader is at 140.  David Boote with rounds of 76-73 149 is tied for 25th, followed by Andrew Yun tied for 45th at 77-75 152 with Steven Kearney tied for 56th after rounds of 73-80 153.

Round 2 scorcards - click to enlarge

Round One Results by gostanford.com:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - After firing a seven-over-par 291, Stanford checked in third during the first round of the NCAA D1 Men's Golf Regional hosted by Ohio State on Thursday at the Scarlet Course.

The No. 10 (Golfweek) Cardinal trailed four strokes off No. 68 Charlotte, who leads the tournament at 287. For second, No. 23 South Carolina posted a 288.

One stroke behind Stanford in fourth was No. 30 UNLV at 292, while Auburn rounded out the top five at 293.

Team Standings - click to enlarge

"We didn't play our best round today but we didn't play horribly," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray. "Teams who make it will play more consistently."

Tied for fourth, Cameron Wilson led the Cardinal with a one-over-par 70. The junior fired an

Junior Cameron Wilson

early birdie on the par-4 third hole and went one under through 14 holes.

“I hit the ball very well today and stayed out of trouble,” Wilson said. “It was frustrating to par so many holes, especially as I gave myself some good birdie chances. However there are some pretty tough holes out here and making pars will gain shots on the field, even if some chances are missed.”

Wilson went on to make another birdie on the par-4 15th to go two under, but gave one shot back after a bogey on the 17th.

“On 15, I played aggressively from the tee and challenged the fairway bunker on the corner,” Wilson continued. “From there I had a great angle and hit a wedge to four feet. [Then] on 17, I hit a poor shot that wound up shortsided in a bunker. I hit a good shot out to seven feet but missed the putt.”

“If you look at the scores, keeping it even par is good,” said Ray about a round where three Cardinal players shot lower than the average score of 75.05. “We didn’t have any wind today and if the wind starts to blow tomorrow, it’ll change the scoring.”

Two shots behind Wilson was Patrick Rodgers, who tied for 10th at 72. Rodgers opened with a birdie on the first and fourth holes to go two under. Then a streak of bogeys on the fifth, seventh and eighth pushed him back at one over through the front nine.

"All three holes I flagged irons and flew the green," Rodgers said. "The ball was going a long way today and I had to make the adjustment."

A birdie on the 10th, however, placed Rodgers even. After paring the next three holes, the sophomore had back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15. He gained a stroke with a birdie on the par-4 16th.

"These greens are really tricky, and I got fooled with a read on 14 and speed on 15 and 3-putted both greens," Rodgers continued. "I kept telling myself that I was playing well and if I could get three more birdie putts to finish the day that I would make one of them. On 16, I hit a wedge to about 12 feet and made a nice putt to bounce back a bit."

Steve Kearney managed to go even through 14 holes.

“I hit my driver really straight today,” Kearney said. “I hit most of the fairways. I also scrambled really well and made a lot of ten footers for par.”

Kearney, a senior, tied for 16th with a 73 after a late double bogey on the 15th.

“I hit into the trees and had to punch out,” Kearney continued. “My 50 yard wedge shot landed next to the hole but rolled off the back into a tough lie and I couldn’t get up and down.”

“Steven played pretty well and just had some bad luck on 15,” said Ray who followed Kearney through the round. “He made some great putts for par saves.” 

Rounding out the lineup are freshman David Boote who tied for 46th at 76 and senior Andrew Yun who recorded a 77 tying for 53rd.

"The golf course is playing tough and is very demanding," Rodgers said. "I'm sure the greens will be quicker, the pins tougher and the rough is only getting longer. It's not a course that you can go out with a number in mind. It requires diligence and patience on each shot, and hopefully after 18 good holes we can move up the board a bit."
Six 54-hole regional competitions will be conducted with 13 teams and 10 individuals at three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals at The Capital City Club, Crabapple Course hosted by Georgia Tech on May 28-June 2.

Round 1 scorecards - click to enlarge