Cardinal sign 3 to National Letters of Intent - Jeffrey Swegle, Bradley Knox and Franklin Huang

Congratulations to Conrad Ray and Phil Rowe as they inked 3 new recruits starting 2014, and welcome to three fine student-athletes who will be coming to the farm.  I enjoyed the humor of Bradley Knox in the photo below when choosing from 3 hats to select his college on signing day.

GOSTANFORD.COM ARTICLE ABOUT SIGNING 3 RECRUITS:
11/20/13 -STANFORD, Calif. – Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf Conrad Ray announced Wednesday that three of the nation’s top high school student-athletes have chose to continue their academic and athletic careers on The Farm, each signing a National Letter of Intent to attend Stanford beginning in the fall of 2014.

Franklin Huang (Poway, Calif./Rancho Bernardo), Bradley Knox (Menlo Park, Calif./Sacred Heart), and Jeffrey Swegle (West Des Moines, Iowa/West Des Moines Valley) all made their official commitments to the Cardinal during the early signing period.

“We are excited about the 2014 recruiting class,” Ray said. “All three players have tremendous upside and epitomize what it means to be a student-athlete. They will join a team built on depth, and they will add a lot to our program with their leadership, work ethic, and passion for Stanford.”

The Swegle File

Jeffrey Swegle from Des Moines, Iowa

• Prepped at West Des Moines Valley (Iowa)
• Four-time Iowa all-state
• Four-time Iowa all-tournament honoree
• Round of 32 at 2013 USGA Junior Amateur Championship
• First at 2013 Future Collegians World Tour Half Moon Bay
• First at 2013 Midwest Junior Championship
• 2013 National Merit Scholarship semifinalist
• 2012-13 Future Collegians World Tour all-academic team
• 2012-13 All- Future Collegians World Tour second team
• 2012 HP Scholastic Honor Roll 
• Tied for 41st at 2012 Callaway Junior World Championship
• Round of 64 at 2011 United States Junior Amateur
• Two top-10 AJGA finishes in 2011
• 2011 Iowa Golf Association Junior Player of the Year - YouTube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1_fblI23sE
• 2011 Iowa Golf Coaches Association Class 4A Player of the Year
• 2011 Iowa Class 4A state champion
• Low stroke average during 2013 Iowa 4A season (71.92)
• Low stroke average during 2012 Iowa 4A season (71.98)
• Low stroke average during 2012 Iowa 4A season (72.72)
• Born in Texarkana, Texas
• Son of Carol and Jim Swegle
• Older brother, Scott
• National Honor Society
• Enjoys photography

Conrad Ray on Jeffrey Swegle …
“Jeff will bring a lot to our team with his work ethic and focus. Coming from the Midwest, he is excited to be able to work on his game year-round, and physically, he has all the tools for success. He established himself over the last few years as one of the top players in the Midwest, and we see that success continuing for him at Stanford.”

The Knox File 

Bradley Knox on signing day - which school to pick?

• Played golf and basketball at Sacred Heart (Calif.)
• 2013 San Jose Mercury News all-area
• 2013 first team all-conference
• 2013 team MVP
• First state qualifier in school history
• Two-time Rotary Award winner in mathematics
• AP Scholar
• Born in Stanford Hospital
• Son of Susan and Brad Knox
• Three siblings: Katherine, Jeffrey and Kevin
• Mother, father, sister, uncle and grandfather attended Stanford
• Mother played tennis at Stanford
• Sister played volleyball at Stanford
• Brother, Kevin, played golf at Ponoma (Calif.)

Conrad Ray on Bradley Knox …
“We are excited to sign Bradley as the top local product in the Bay Area. He grew up playing the Stanford Golf Course and he has strong ties to the University with his parents, grandfather and older sister all having gone to Stanford. We believe with more national tournament exposure and hard work that he is only going to get better.”

The Huang File -- Swing Video on YouTube

Franklin Huang

• Prepped at Rancho Bernardo (Calif.)
• Tied for 13th at 2012 Callaway Junior World Golf Championship
• Tied for eighth at 2012 Junior America’s Cup
• Tied for fifth at 2013 Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic
• Third at 2012 Toyota Tour Cup Invitational at Westin Mission Hills
• 2012 AJGA All-America
• 2012 Rolex All-America
• 2012 Rancho Bernardo Player of the Year
• Two-time first team all-CIF San Diego
• Led team to second at 2013 CIF San Diego
• School-record three consecutive SoCal Regional appearances
• 2013 HP Scholastic All-America
• National Merit Scholar
• Rancho Bernardo Scholar-Athlete Award
• Born in San Diego
• Son of Tina Mai and Gordon Huang
• One sister, Angela
• Hobbies include swimming, billiards and chess

Conrad Ray on Franklin Huang …
“Franklin’s game will translate well at the collegiate level. He is tremendously consistent off the tee and makes very few mistakes. He was named an AJGA All-American in 2012, which shows that he has what it takes to compete and win at the highest levels.” 

Cardinal finishes 2nd at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in Dallas as 6 players compete

 Stanford Daily Recap | Live Scoring | Royal Oaks CC | Itinerary

The Royal Oaks Invitational offers new challenges to the 12th ranked Cardinal team.  First, it's a new

Freshman Viraat Badhwar

venue for the team, played on an exclusive private course in Dallas, Texas in an event hosted by the 19th ranked Baylor team.  Second, the format includes 6 players competing for 5 low scores each round.  Third, the first day will include 36 holes in this two-day event.  Fourth the lineup includes for the first time, highly touted freshman Viraat Badhwar from Australia, who has been dealing with a wrist injury that has kept him from competing until now.

The 12-team field includes #3 Texas A & M, #5 Oklahoma State, #13 Oklahoma, #16 New Mexico as well as SMU, Iowa, and Ohio State.  Stanford's team includes Cameron Wilson, Patrick Rodgers, David Boote, Patrick Grimes and freshmen Jim Liu and Viraat Badhwar.

FINAL RESULTS: 
Thanks to a sparkling final round 65 (and 5-under 31 on his final 9) by Patrick Rodgers, Stanford finished in 2nd place, 16 strokes behind Oklahoma State.  See the final team standings below:

Final team standings - click to enlarge

Cameron Wilson (69-67-70 208) and Patrick Rodgers (70-71-65 208) tied for 8th at 7-under par 206, David Boote (70-67-71 208) continued his fine play tying for 13th at 208, freshman Jim Liu (68-72-73 213) tied for 29th after another good showing, Patrick Grimes (72-71-71 214) had a solid event as he tied for 32nd while freshman Viraat Badhwar 72-70-73 215) in his collegiate debut contributed with a 215 total to tie for 37th.

Patrick's standout final round 65 included 8 birdies and 2 bogies.  Cameron completed his excellent fall season with another top 10 result leading to his team leading 70.33/round stroke average.  See full individual and team results for the fall season.  

Final round scorecards are included below - click to enlarge:

It was an encouraging event showing that Stanford has good depth to draw on when the spring season gets underway in Hawaii. 

ROUND 1 & 2 RESULTS:

Stanford sits in 2nd place, 6 shots behind Oklahoma State heading into the final round today. Weather forecast is for highs near 80 with winds from 10-20 mph.

Team standings after round 2 - click to enlarge

Scoring was low at Royal Oaks on day one as Stanford was led by Cameron Wilson who is tied for 3rd on rounds of 69-67.  Cameron sits 5 strokes behind leader Kevin Dougherty from Oklahoma State who fired a 63 in his first round.

David Boote is tied for 6th with 70-67, Patrick Rodgers on rounds of 70-71 is tied for 26th, freshman Viraat Badhwar is next tied for 33rd with 72-70 and Patrick Grimes is tied for 37th with 72-71. Viraat was at 5-under thru 13 holes on his 2nd round until derailed by two late bogies and a double bogey to end the day 1-under par.

Round 2 Scorecards - click to enlarge

No doubt low scoring in the final round will be required to overtake the strong OSU squad.

Cardinal competes in the US Collegiate in Georgia

Stanford Daily Recap | Live Scoring | USCC.org | GoStanford Background | GC of Georgia

BACKGROUND 

The same Stanford 5 (Rodgers, Wilson, Boote, Liu and McNealy) who just won at Erin Hills compete in what some have called the Masters of College Golf, the US Collegiate Championship held in Alpharetta, Georgia.  The strong field of 15 teams includes host #2 Georgia Tech, #4 Washington, #6 Oklahoma State, #7 UCLA, #11 Stanford, #16 Texas A&M, #19 Kent State, #20 Auburn, #23 USC and #25 Duke plus Virginia, Clemson, Iowa, Wake Forest and East Tennessee State.

FINAL RESULTS (article by Alan George of GoStanford.com) - recommend reading the excellent recap by the Stanford Daily.
A two-over-par 290 on the third and final day of the United States Collegiate Championship earned the ninth-ranked Stanford men’s golf team a tie for seventh. The three-day event at The Golf Club of Georgia’s Lakeside Course saw the Cardinal post collective scores of 288-288-290 (866).

Final Team Results - click to enlarge

Patrick Rodgers started the third round tied for 41st, but was the low man Sunday with a 67 to finish 2-under on the weekend. Rodgers (75-72-67, 214) tied with Cameron Wilson (69-71-74, 214) for 15th overall.

“We struggled a bit with big numbers and a lack of birdies on the par-fives, but we did a lot of things well,” Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf Conrad Ray said. “Cameron and Patrick played solid and both were close to having another chance to win. We’re looking forward to a quick turnaround at next week’s event.”

Stanford will travel to the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate (Oct. 28-29) in Dallas to wrap up its fall season.

David Boote (69-74-74, 217, +1) tied for 29th as Jim Liu (79-71-75, 225, +9) and Maverick McNealy (75-74-76, 225, +9) tied for 60th through three rounds on the par-72, 7,017-yard course.

Round 3 scorecards - click to enlarge

Rodgers final round 5-under was without a bogey. The All-American was 4-over on the front nine to open the tournament and responded with respective front nine performances of 2-under and 3-under on his way to the top-15 finish.

Wilson was 4-over through 11, but rolled in birdies on three of the next seven holes to close his final round with a 2-over 74.

Fifth-ranked Oklahoma State captured the team title by one stroke over defending champion Georgia Tech.

The Cowboys nearly were tied at the finish by the second-ranked Yellow Jackets, but Georgia Tech’s Ollie Schniederjans missed an eight-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole, giving Oklahoma State the win at 15-under 849.

Schniederjans was the individual champion at 10-under 206.  The victory also earned him a tournament exemption for Web.com Tour’s Air Capital Classic next June.

Virginia’s Ben Rusch was second in the individual race at 6-under 210, followed by Georgia Tech’s Anders Albertson at 5-under 211.

Wake Forest finished third at 2-under 862, followed by No. 14 Virginia (863). Third-ranked Texas A&M and No. 17 UCLA shared fifth place at even-par 864.

ROUND TWO RESULTS:
The Cardinal moved up one spot to 7th, 9 strokes behind Oklahoma State after a 2nd even par 288 total.  The tightly bunched leader board finds Stanford only 3 behind 3rd place UCLA.

Round 2 Team Scores - click to enlarge

Cameron Wilson and Jim Liu led the way with 1-under par 71s while Patrick Rodgers had 72, David Boote and Maverick McNealy each shot 74.  Patrick's round was marred by a double on the par 5 finishing hole while Maverick had a triple on the par 3 13th hole.  Cameron is tied for third overall (69-71 140), David is tied for 20th (69-74 143), Patrick is tied for 41st (75-72 147), Maverick is tied for 51st (75-74 149) and Jim is tied for 59th (79-71 150).  The individual leader from OSU is 5 strokes ahead of Cameron at 9-under 135 after rounds of 66-69.

Round 2 scorecards - click to enlarge

FIRST ROUND RESULTS (by Alan George for gostanford.com)
Stanford used the efforts of David Boote and Cameron Wilson to put itself in the middle of the 15-team pack Friday through the first round of the United States Collegiate Championship.

The Cardinal pair each notched a 3-under 69, while Stanford sat in eight place after its first trek through the 7,017-yard, par-72 Lakeside Course.

Boote was even heading into the par-5 ninth, and then came away with an eagle on the 540-yard closer. Boote also birdied the par-5, 564-yard 18th.

Wilson had a pair of birdies on both the front and back nine. The lone bogey came on the par-4, 432-yard 14th. Wilson birdied two of the next three to end the day.

Defending champion Georgia Tech exploited perfect scoring conditions at The Golf Club of Georgia and grabbed the first-day lead of by five shots over Oklahoma State.

The host Yellow Jackets compiled a 9-under 279, led by Ollie Schniederjans, whose 6-under 66 shared the individual lead with Virginia’s Ben Rusch.

Round 1 Team scores - click to enlarge

Despite rain-softened greens and windless conditions, defending individual champion Patrick Rodgers recovered from a 4-over front nine to close with a bogey-free back half. Rodgers nabbed a 3-over 75 while tying for 38th with Maverick McNealy.

Jim Liu logged a 7-over 79, hindered mostly by a triple bogey on the 12th hole. Liu started the round 1-under through three with the assistance of looper Conrad Ray.

The first-round stroke average was 73.33, with 34 players at par or better.

The final two rounds of the 54-hole tournament will be streamed live starting at noon (PT) on Saturday and Sunday at GoStanford.com.

Round 1 scorecards - click to enlarge

QUOTES from gostanford.com --- Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf Conrad Ray previews the U.S. Collegiate Championship …“We’re excited about where this team is headed. They have been working hard and the results will follow. We have had some great contributions across the lineup this fall and we’re looking for that to continue.  “We’ll be on the road this weekend against a good field for an excellent test of golf.”  Defending champion in this event at 7-under 209 Patrick Rodgers says --- “Playing out here, with the difficulty of the golf course, the crowds, the skyboxes around the 18th green, it really is like playing in a PGA Tour event,” said Rodgers after winning the 2012 title.

Stanford wins the team title and Patrick Rodgers the individual title at Erin Hills in Wisconsin!

Stanford Daily Recap | Erin Hills GC website | Live Scoring | Golfweek recap

The 2017 US Open venue, Erin Hills GC, is the site of the Marquette Invitational. Stanford's team includes two of its highly touted freshmen class, Jim Liu and Maverick McNealy, who will be playing in their first collegiate events. Remaining team members include two-time First Team All-American Patrick Rodgers, Cameron Wilson coming off his first win at Olympia Fields, and top returning sophomore David Boote.

Hosted by Marquette, two other Pac 12 teams are in the field including 3rd ranked UCLA and Oregon State.  Stanford carries an 8th place ranking at this time.  Other teams in the field include a ranked Oklahoma squad, Michigan, Wisconsin and an always solid Northwestern team.

FINAL RESULTS: 
Stanford wins the team championship by 8 strokes over UCLA with a 13-under par score of 851 and

Patrick Rodgers wins his 6th

Patrick Rodgers wins the individual title by 3 strokes at 7-under par on rounds of 68-72-69 209.  This is Patrick's 6th career win in just over two seasons, putting him in 3rd place in Cardinal history behind only Tiger Woods (11) and Joel Kribel (7).

Cameron Wilson (69-72-73 214) tied for 6th with David Boote (71-72-71 214) while freshman Jim Liu ties for 10th place (72-69-74 215) in his first collegiate tournament despite posting a 10 on the par 5 first hole and a 7 on the par 5 18th hole in his final round.  Freshman Maverick McNealy had a strong debut as well as he tied for 25th on rounds of 72-74-73.

The freshmen including Viraat Badhwar who's waiting in the wings to make his college debut are provided important depth and talent to the team's lineup making the prospects very positive going forward.

Final team and 3rd round individual scorecards are included below --- click to enlarge:

Final team results - click to enlarge

Round 3 scorecards - click to enlarge

ROUND 2 RECAP: weather in the low to high 50s, partly cloudy, with gusty winds to about 12 mph.
The Cardinal extended its lead to 11 strokes over SMU (and 15 over 3rd place teams) with the day's best team score of 3-under 285 (280-285 565).  Patrick Rodgers remains tied for 1st individually (68-72) with Cameron Wilson (69-72) and Jim Liu (72-69) tied for 3rd only one stroke behind.  David Boote (71-72) is tied for 6th overall and Maverick McNealy (72-75) is tied for 25th.

Freshman Jim Liu's 3-under 69 tied for the day's low round as he had 4 birdies and only one bogey.  Patrick's steady round included two birdies and two bogeys while Cameron had 3 bogies offset by an eagle and a birdie.  The individual highlight of the day was a hole in one by David Boote (see photo below) on the 208 yard par 3 sixth hole leading to his even par showing.  Maverick McNealy's round was only marred by his 4-over par play on the par fives as he tallied 4 birdies.  Top 5 team scores and  scorecards are shown below.

David Boote's hole in 1 on #6 - click to enlarge

Top 5 Team scoring - click to enlarge

Round 2 scorecards - click to enlarge

ROUND 1 RECAP:  weather low 50s with light winds.
After round 1 Stanford leads the field by 6 strokes with a team total of 8-under 280.   There was solid play by all 5 players, led by a 4-under 68 by Patrick Rodgers, who is tied for 1st individually.  The consistency of Stanford's play was shown in that all 5 players had only a total of 7 bogies on the day, more than offset by 13 birdies and an eagle.

Cameron Wilson shot 69 (T3), David Boote (T7) had 71 while freshmen Jim Liu (T16) and Maverick McNealy (T16) had par 72s.

The top 7 teams and individual scorecards are shown below -- click to enlarge:

Top 7 Teams & individuals - click to enlarge

Round 1 scorecards - click to enlarge

Cameron Wilson wins his first title as the 2013-14 season begins at famed Olympia Fields GC

Live Scoring | Olympia Fields GC | GoStanford.com

FINAL ROUND RECAP:
Senior Cameron Wilson captured his first individual title with a final round 70 to tie for medalist honors against a strong field.
Over a tough, major championship caliber golf course in Olympia Fields, Cameron finished at even par 210 (75-65-70) to lead the Cardinal to a 5th place finish, 23 strokes behind the blazing hot Alabama team but only 5 strokes behind 2nd place Texas.  Final team standings and individual scoring is shown below.

Patrick Rodgers tied for 21st (73-71-75 219), David Boote finished strong with a final round 70 (72-78-70 220) to tie for 23rd, Patrick Grimes tied for 53rd (75-77-75 227) and Dominick Francks tied for 61st (77-74-78 229).

Final Results - click to enlarge

Final round scorecards - click to enlarge

ROUND 2 RECAP:
Led by a superb 65 by Cameron Wilson, the tournament's low round by 2 shots, Stanford moved into a tied for 4th place only 3 behind 2nd place Texas.  Alabama is lapping the field 24, leading by 21 strokes.

Team scores - Rnd 2 - click to enlarge

Cameron (75-65) moved into a tie for 2nd with his 5-under round that included 5 birdies and no bogies.  Defending champion Patrick Rodgers  (73-71) is tied for 11th, David Boote (72-78) is tied for 39th, Dominick Francks (77-74) is tied for 42nd and Patrick Grimes (75-77) is tied for 51st.

Round 2 scorecards - click to enlarge

ROUND 1 RECAP:
Stanford is tied for 6th at 295, 15-over par, 14 shots behind leading Alabama but only 4 behind 2nd place.  The weather today was a high of 65 degrees with gusting winds from 10-20 mph.  Team scores are shown below:

Round 1 Team Scoring - click to enlarge

On a day when only 4 rounds were shot in the 60's and a low of 67, David Boote managed the low Cardinal round of 72 (T-10).  Patrick Rodgers, back from competing in the Walker Cup win, was at 73 (T-15), Cameron Wilson and Patrick Grimes at 75 (T-35) and Dominick Francks was at 77 (T54).  Individual scorecards are shown below:

Round 1 Scorecards - click to enlarge

BACKGROUND BY GOSTANFORD.COM:
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Stanford men’s golf team opens the 2013-14 season at the Olympia Fields/ Fighting Illini Invitational, held at the Olympia Fields Country Club North Course, a Par 70, 7,177 yard course.

The North Course has been selected by the United States Golf Association as the site of the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship, to be played August 24-30. Designed by Willie Park and opened in 1923, the North Course was the site of three previous USGA championships: the 1928 U.S. Open (won by Johnny Farrell), the 1997 U.S. Senior Open (won by Graham Marsh) and the 2003 U.S. Open (won by Jim Furyk). It also hosted the 1925 and 1961 PGA Championships. The South Course, a 1915 Tom Bendelow design that recently underwent a major restoration by Steve Smyers Golf Course Architects, recently hosted the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and the 2012 Jr. Ryder Cup.

CARDINAL LINEUPPatrick Rodgers
Cameron Wilson
David Boote
Dominick Francks
Patrick Grimes

TOURNAMENT FIELDAlabama, Arkansas, Augusta State, Baylor, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, SMU, Stanford, Texas, Texas Tech

NCAA Regionals are underway in Columbus, Ohio

Live Scoring | Tourney Central | Stanford Daily Preview

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