May 18, 2006
Kevin Larsen shot a two-under-par 69 and Cameron Tringale posted an even-par score of 71 to pace Georgia Tech Thursday, but the fourth-ranked Yellow Jackets put themselves in a hole with an 11-over-par team total of 295 and stand in 13th place after the first round of the NCAA Central Regional golf tournament in Chardon, Ohio.
Top-seeded Oklahoma State is the first-round leader with a four-under-par team score of 280, and No. 9-seed Northwestern was the only other team to break par (281) on the 7,173-yard, par 71 Sand Ridge Golf Club. Texas A&M is in third place at even-par 284, while Duke and Lamar are tied for fourth at 286. Kentucky, Minnesota, Texas and Purdue are all tied for sixth place at 291.
Tech, which tees off at 7 a.m. from the 10th tee Friday, is three shots out of 10th place (Oklahoma at 292). The top 10 teams after 54 holes are completed Saturday advance to the NCAA Championship, which begins May 31 at Sunriver, Ore.
Larsen, a junior from Santa Barbara, Calif., was one of the 16 players to break par Thursday, playing the back nine four strokes under par and posting six birdies on scorecard for the round. He is in a group of six players tied for fourth place, two shots off the lead of Northwestern’s Chris Wilson (67). Tringale, a freshman from Laguna Niguel, Calif., was steady throughout his round, with five birdies and five bogeys, and is tied for 17th place individually.
But the No. 2-seeded Yellow Jackets had to count a 77 from All-American Roberto Castro and a 78 from senior Mike Barbosa, who each posted a triple-bogey on the back nine. Freshman Taylor Hall, with two triple-bogeys on the back side, shot an 80 that was tossed out.
“Hopefully that’s as poor as we will do. We had too many big numbers,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “The weather got a lot better as the day went along. It was pretty nice as we played the back nine. Kevin and Cameron played pretty well. Roberto and Mike were hanging in there, but they each had one bad hole on the back side.”
Bronson Burgeon and Andrew Parr paced Texas A&M and are tied for second place individually at three-under-par 68. Jonathan Moore pace Oklahoma State with a 69, while teammates. Trent Leon and Pablo Martin each posted one-under 70 (tied for ninth), and Tyler Leon and Zack Robinson each shot 71 for the Cowboys.
SMU led the morning wave with a 10-over-par score of 294 and is in 12th place. Tech was 12th among the 15 teams playing in the afternoon.
NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL
Sand Ridge Golf Club, Chardon, Ohio
First-Round Results
TEAM LEADERS
Oklahoma State 280, Northwestern 281, Texas A&M 284, Duke 286, Lamar 286, Kentucky 291, Minnesota 291, Texas 291, Purdue 291, Oklahoma 292.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Chris Wilson, Northwestern, 67; Bobby Bennett, Purdue, 68; Bronson Burgeon, Texas A&M, 68; Andrew Parr, Texas A&M, 68; Kevin Larsen, Georgia Tech, 69; Korey Mahoney, Eastern Michigan, 69; Jonathan Moore, Oklahoma State, 69; Clayton Rask, Minnesota, 69
GEORGIA TECH SCORES
T4-Kevin Larsen, 69 T17-Cameron Tringale, 71 T91-Roberto Castro, 77 T105-Mike Barbosa, 78 T122-Taylor Hall, 80
