May 20, 2011
Complete results and live scoring
Radford, Va. – James White shot a 1-under-par 71 Friday to pace Georgia Tech, which maintained a three-stroke lead after 36 holes of the NCAA East Regional golf tournament. First-round leader Kyle Scott shot a 73 and is tied for first place individually.
Tech posted a 5-over-par score of 293 Friday on the Pete Dye River Course at Virginia Tech, which at 7,685 yards is the longest course the Yellow Jackets have played this year. The top-seeded Yellow Jackets have a 6-over-par tournament total of 582, and are trying to win their first NCAA regional since 2002. Duke, which posted the day’s best team score of 2-over 290, moved within three strokes of the Yellow Jackets at 9-over 585.
“We got off to a bad start today,” Tech coach Bruce Heppler said. “We were 4- or 5-over through three holes, so we kind of hung in there and played well through stretches of the round. The finish [No. 15, 16, 17 and 18] is hard. I’m happy with how we played. Obviously, it wasn’t our best round. But the guys did a good job of hanging in there.”
Oklahoma shot 292 Friday and holds third place at 12-over 588, followed by Kent State at 16-over 592 and LSU at 20-over 596. The top five finishers after 54 holes in each region tournament this weekend will advance to the NCAA Finals, which begin May 31 in Stillwater, Okla. The East Regional is one of six tournaments taking place around the country this weekend.
The Pete Dye River Course has proven to be the most difficult of any of the courses being played this weekend. It is the only regional in which no teams have broken par. Coastal Carolina (+23), host Virginia Tech (+24), Virginia (+26), East Carolina (+30) and Lamar (+36) are in sixth through 10th places after 36 holes.
Scott, with two bogeys and one birdie on his card Friday, kept a share of the individual lead at 3-under 141 with Oklahoma’s Abraham Ancer, who shot a 71 Friday. The senior from Johannesburg, South Africa is bidding to win his first collegiate tournament on the Division I level after finishing second each of his last two outings. White, who has won twice this year, moved into a tie for third place with a 36-hole total of 144, even par and three strokes off the lead.
John-Tyler Griffin shot a second straight 74 for the Yellow Jackets Friday, while Richard Werenski provided the fourth counting score for Tech with a 75. Griffin is in a group tied for 18th place at 4-over-par 148, while Werenski is in a tie for 23rd place at 149. Paul Haley, who won the ACC Championship last month, posted a second consecutive 76 Friday.
The Yellow Jackets begin Saturday’s final round at 8:40 a.m., looking for their fifth victory in an NCAA regional and their first since 2002, when they shared the honors with Clemson at Settindown Creek in Roswell, Ga.
NCAA East-Virginia Tech RegionalPete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech, Radford, Va.36-hole Results
Team Standings 1 Georgia Tech 289 293 582 +6 2 Duke 295 290 585 +9 3 Oklahoma 296 292 588 +12 4 Kent State 296 296 592 +16 5 LSU 305 291 596 +20 6 Coastal Carolina 299 300 599 +23 7 Virginia Tech 300 300 600 +24 8 Virginia 305 297 602 +26 9 East Carolina 302 304 606 +30 10 Lamar 311 301 612 +36 11 Mississippi 311 306 617 +41 T12 UNC Wilmington 304 314 618 +42 T12 Yale 313 305 618 +42
Individual Leaders T1 Abraham Ancer Oklahoma 70 71 141 -3 T1 Kyle Scott Georgia Tech 68 73 141 -3 T3 Josh Brock UNC Wilmington 71 73 144 E T3 James White Georgia Tech 73 71 144 E T5 Sang Yi LSU 76 69 145 +1 T5 Payne McLeod UNC Wilmington 71 74 145 +1 T5 Sebastian Soderberg Coastal Carolina 73 72 145 +1 T5 Kevin Miller Kent State 74 71 145 +1 T5 Richard Fountain * Davidson College 72 73 145 +1 T10 Harold Varner East Carolina 74 72 146 +2 T10 Julian Suri Duke 76 70 146 +2
Georgia Tech Scores T1 Kyle Scott (2) 68 73 141 T3 James White (3) 73 71 144 T17 John-Tyler Griffin (1) 74 74 148 T22 Richard Werenski (5) 74 75 149 T38 Paul Haley (4) 76 76 152
