May 14, 2009
Complete Results and Tee Times
Bowling Green, Ky. – Cameron Tringale fired a 3-under-par 69 Thursday, and Georgia Tech rallied from a poor start to post a team score of 292, 4-over-par, and take second place after the first round of the NCAA Central Regional golf tournament.
No. 2 seed Tech found itself 7-over-par through its first five holes at the Club at Olde Stone Thursday, but the Yellow Jackets found their legs and played the final 13 holes in 3-under-par, finishing 18 holes tied with UCLA. Washington, the top seed, had no problems Thursday despite a storm that delayed the start of the round, playing the course in 6-under-par 282 and taking a 10-shot lead into Friday’s second round.
NC State shot 294 (6-over-par) to take fourth place, followed by Louisville and Mississippi (296), Duke (298), East Tennessee State (299) and Ohio State (300). The top five finishers after 54 holes advance to the NCAA Championship, May 26-30, in Bowling Green, Ky.
“The hour and a half delay affected us a little, but the first five holes are very hard,” said Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “But the thing that’s impressive is we’re getting better at hanging in there. Chesson birdied the last two holes in his round today, and JT overcame a really rough start.
“I thought the golf course was really hard. We played our practice round in 35 mile-per-hour winds yesterday. But the wind calmed today, and the rain softened the course a little. You’ve got to drive it in the fairway, lots of rough.”
Tringale, a senior from Laguna, Niguel, Calif., mostly avoided the early troubles his teammates found. He bogeyed the first hole and the 15th, but balanced that with five birdies.
John-Tyler Griffin, a sophomore from Wilson, N.C., played the first four holes 4-over-par, but posted four birdies and two bogeys coming in to finish with a 74. David Dragoo, a senior from Scottsdale, Ariz., played a much steadier round with three bogeys and one birdie for a 74.
Junior Chesson Hadley and freshman James White each shot 75 for Tech.
Washington’s Nick Taylor fired a 5-under-par 67 to pace the Huskies and take a 2-shot lead over Tringale in the individual race. NC State’s Darren Blair and Matt Hill, and Washington’s Richard Lee, are in a three-way tie at 2-under-pae 70, while four players are tied at 1-under 71.
Friday’s second round gets underway at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time. The Yellow Jackets tee off the first tee at 10:40 a.m.
