May 24, 2014
Live Leaderboard | Photo Gallery | Heppler interview | Schniederjans interview
Hutchinson, Kan. – Ollie Schniederjans moved into contention for medalist honors with a second-round 65, but Georgia Tech shot a 2-over-par 282 and fell into a tie for 10th place after 36 holes of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship.
The fifth-ranked Yellow Jackets and the 14 other teams in its wave, which did not get on the Prairie Dunes Country Club course Friday because of weather delays totaling more than eight hours, had to play 36 holes Saturday while the 15 teams in Friday’s morning wave completed their opening rounds and then spent the rest of their day at their hotels.
Coupled with its opening-round 277 (-3), Tech finished 36 holes at 1-under-par 559, which is fourth among the six teams that completed 36 holes. Third-ranked Stanford (548, -12) surged in the afternoon with a 13-under-par 267 and grabbed a four-stroke lead over Alabama (552, -8) and South Carolina, which has played only 18 holes. Auburn (-6) is in fourth, followed by SMU (-5), but they, too, have played only one round.
Oklahoma State, at 4-under-par 556 after 36 holes, was in a three-way tie at -4 with LSU and Oklahoma, who were still out on the course when the horn sounds stopping play for darkness at 9:30 p.m. The Tigers and Sooners, along with seven other teams, will be on the course at 8 a.m. Sunday to complete their second rounds, while the 15 teams in the other wave face a 36-hole Sunday and will begin their second rounds immediately afterward.
Tech and the teams in its wave, barring any Sunday weather issues, hope to begin their final round in the early-to-mid-afternoon.
“We’re going to play as many holes as possible and hope we can get 54 holes in and worry about the individual stuff when it happens,” said Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “I hope we get to play some more holes. I just have no idea what the weather will do. It’s nice to be done and not have to come out here at seven in the morning tomorrow and play two holes. We’ll get to bed and then just watch the weather.”
The sun came out in the late morning, though plenty of cloud cover remained and the wind was light the entire day, seemingly leaving the greens soft and the 6,941-yard, par-72 Prairie Dunes layout vulnerable to attack and low scores. But other than Schniederjans’ 65, Tech struggled after posting an opening-round 277 (-3). Seth Reeves, who opened with a 66, and Richard Werenski, with a first-round 69, both shot 72 in the afternoon round, while Bo Andrews and Anders Albertson each carded 73s.
Tech lost four strokes to par on the final two holes of its afternoon round (Nos. 8 and 9), dropping from a tie for sixth place.
“We fought all the way through 34 holes, then we get a double and two bogeys on the last two holes, and we got from 5-under to 1-under and we’re outside the number,” said Heppler. “We hit three bad tee shots and made a mess at the end. Other than that, we played really well. We just didn’t get other scores today, and we need to play better than that.”
Schniederjans is in a tie for sixth place at 4-under-par 136, but is fourth in the clubhouse among players who completed 36 holes. Stanford’s Cameron Wilson, who holed out his second shot at the 535-yard, par-4 11th hole, shot a 63 in the afternoon and assumed the individual lead at 6-under-par 134. His teammate, Ben Hogan Award winner Patrick Rodgers, shot rounds of 67-68 and is a stroke back at 135.
The forecast for Sunday is for sunny skies most of the day with a 40 percent chance of scattered storms in the afternoon, high temperatures in the low 80s.
