June 3, 1999
CHASKA, Minn. - The Washington men's golf team extended its season, standing in a four-way tie for 12th place after 36 holes and making the cut to the final two days of play at the NCAA Championships at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Clemson leads the team title chase through 36 holes at 14-over par 590 for the four-day, 72-hole tournament. Northwesterns Luke Donald fired a second round 68 and is the individual leader at 3-under 141.
Of the 15 teams that made the cut, only Washington improved its team score in the second round (307-301--608). First round leader Oklahoma State shot 309 after a 289 Wednesday.
This year is just the fourth appearance in school history for the Huskies at the NCAA Championships, and the first time since 1988 they have advanced to the final two days of championship play. Washington finished 15th that year, when current UW coach O.D. Vincent was a sophomore on the Husky squad.
Freshman Troy Kelly led the Huskies again in the second round, chipping in for birdie on 17 and finishing at 1-under 71 for the day. He was one of just six golfers to shoot under par on the second round. Kelly has a two-day total of 146 and stands among the individual leaders, in a tie for ninth place.
Senior Robb Bergeson followed his first round 74 with an 8-over 80 and stands in a tie for 65th place. Fellow senior Rob Rashell had his third birdie of the day on No. 18 and finished the day at 4-over 76. He has a two-day total of 155, good for 81st. Gordy Scutt and Scott Kral each carded 5-over 77 in their second round. Scutt is in 89th with a 156 and Kral is in 120th with a 159.
Third round action continues with another 18 holes Friday. The Huskies tee off beginning at 7:48 a.m. CST.
Washington QuotesO.D. Vincent (head coach): Its definitely anybodys ballgame out there. Even though we are 18 shots behind the leader, you can see how much this golf course changes in one day. We had a good round today and I still think there is some room for improvement. We are happy we have the chance to play the final two days. I think we deserve it. I think you are going to see us move up the leaderboard further and further each day. The running scoreboard they have here makes it difficult to see where you stand. We didnt play the last three or four holes as well as we played the rest of the day, so it was interesting coming down the stretch. Id like to tell you I knew we were in the whole time. I knew wed have a good chance. Coming down, we thought that Troy would have to birdie one of the last two holes for us to make it, and that ended up being the case. He ended up chipping in on the 17th hole, from off the fringe. It was an awesome shot. He played really well all day. He shot 3-under on the front nine then unfortunately, bogeyed the first and second holes or he would have had an even better score. The nice thing about Troy is that no matter what the conditions, no matter who he is playing against, or what the course is, he expects to play well every single day. That showed today. He will go about his game the next two days the same way he always does.
Troy Kelly: I just wanted to get out there, get off to a good start, make some pars and stay focused. Its tough, if you get off to a bad start, to get it back. The winds were strong and the greens were so fast and hard. I didnt really know where we were coming in. I didnt look at the scoreboard.
Rob Rashell: You know when you are here, youre playing against the best teams in the country and its nice to put a good round and play well. Its fun to have two more days out here. Its so close. We really do have a shot at winning this golf tournament. We have to play well, but this golf course is so hard, its anyones shot. If we play well in the next two rounds, you never know what could happen.
NCAA Men's Golf ChampionshipTEAM RESULTS Fin School Scores 1 Clemson University 293 297 590 +14 2 Brigham Young Univ. 293 298 591 +15 3 UNLV 295 298 593 +17 4 Northwestern 296 299 595 +19 T 5 Georgia, U. of 292 305 597 +21 T 5 Oklahoma State U. 289 308 597 +21 7 North Carolina, U of 294 307 601 +25 8 Houston, Univ. of 297 305 602 +26 T 9 Arizona State U. 297 307 604 +28 T 9 East Tennessee St. 298 306 604 +28 11 Nebraska, U. of 301 305 606 +30 T 12 Florida, U. of 297 311 608 +32 T 12 Washington, U. of 307 301 608 +32 T 12 Minnesota, Univ. of 303 305 608 +32 T 12 Illinois, U. of 303 305 608 +32 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS Fin Name School Scores 1 Luke Donald N'western 73 68 141 -3 T 2 Derek Gillespie Arizona 72 71 143 -1 T 2 Chris Wisler E Tenn. St 68 75 143 -1 T 4 D.A. Points Illinois 73 71 144 E T 4 Charley Hoffman UNLV 71 73 144 E T 6 Manuel Merizalde BYU 73 72 145 +1 T 6 Lucas Glover Clemson 72 73 145 +1 T 6 Max Harris N Carolina 70 75 145 +1 T 9 Troy Kelly Washington 75 71 146 +2 T 9 Jonathan Byrd Clemson 73 73 146 +2 T 9 Don Hill N Carolina 70 76 146 +2 T 15 Landry Mahan Okla. St. 73 75 148 +4 T 15 Charles Howell Okla. St. 71 77 148 +4 T 46 Peter Davidson Okla. St. 72 80 152 +8 T 54 Anders Hultman Okla. St. 73 80 153 +9 T111 Edward Loar Okla. St. 82 76 158 +14Washington (307-301--608, +32) (36 holes) T9. Troy Kelly (75-71--146) T65. Robb Bergeson (74-80--154) T81. Rob Rashell (79-76--155) T89. Gordy Scutt (79-77--156) T120. Scott Kral (82-77--159) |
