May 15, 2014
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Raleigh, N.C. – Following a two-plus-hour weather delay, play was called for the day with Georgia Tech’s golf team four shots ahead of Washington during the opening round of the NCAA Raleigh Regional at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course.
Tech senior Richard Werenski, working on a 5-under-par round, was preparing to hit a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole when the horn sounded, halting play at 12:40 p.m. Fellow senior Bo Andrews, playing in his hometown, was on the 18th tee having played the first 17 holes in 4-under-par. Ollie Schniederjans (-3 through 14) and Seth Reeves (-2 through 15) also were playing well for the Yellow Jackets.
Play was called for the day at 2:45 p.m. with heavy downpours having soaked the 7,213-yard, par-71 course for more than two hours and no break expected. Due the amount of rain the course has absorbed, play will not resume Friday morning until 11:30 a.m. NCAA officials still hope to complete round two Friday as well.
“We’ll just come back tomorrow, warm up and play,” said Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “Everybody got off to a good start, and this is one of those situations where it doesn’t hurt to get going early, so I’m pleased with the way everybody is playing. They’ve done a nice job with the golf course, it’s in good shape, and we’ve got a chance to shoot a score.
“As I told the guys last night, everybody on this roster has won either a major amateur event or a college event, and we haven’t always been that way. When you have five guys who can win – Richy and Bo are here to win a tournament – that’s how you need to play. If you get anywhere close (to winning), you’ll be in good shape after Saturday.”
First-round play will resume at 11:30 a.m. Friday with Tech, the top seed in this regional and ranked No. 5 nationally by Golfstat, holding a 14-under-par score with its final group through 14 holes. Washington, the second seed and ranked No. 8, is 10-under-par through 14 holes, followed by South Alabama (-5 through 10 holes). Texas Tech, Wake Forest and Texas A&M were tied for fourth place at 3-under-par, all on the back nine of their rounds.
The rest of the leaderboard – Florida State (E), Minnesota (+1), Bethune-Cookman (+2), Kentucky (+2), Memphis (+3), Mercer (+5) and Rice (+8).
Individually, Werenski stood alone at the top of the leaderboard, with Andrews tied for second place with two others.
Second-round play will begin 30 minutes after the completion of round one. The top five finishers after Saturday’s final round will advance to the NCAA Championship finals, May 23-28, at Prairie Dunes Golf Club in Hutchinson, Kan.
