University of Washington
NCAA Championships
Dawgs Underway At NCAA Championships
May 29, 2015 | Men's Golf
Live Scoring | NCAA Championships Central
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Washington is underway at the NCAA Championships from The Concession Golf Club, firing a first round of 13-over 301. The Dawgs are tied for 20th after a tough finish on a course that punishes mistakes.
The Huskies played well overall, but made a few big numbers down that stretch that hurt their overall score.
“We didn't start well and I wish it were different, but it's not a shocker,” said head coach Matt Thurmond. “It's 2:30 a.m. back home when we got up. Everyone is nervous and excited, but we settled in and played really well. Through about 12 holes we were in great shape. Holes four, five and six are really tough and we knew if we could hang in there, we'd be in good shape. Unfortunately we didn't do that.”
Despite the finish, Washington is still in solid position, just three strokes out of 15th place, which will be the 54-hole cut. The goal is to ascend to the top-eight by 72 holes to advance to the match play portion of the tournament.
Eighth place is currently a tie between host South Florida, Texas and UCLA at 6-over, seven shots clear of the Dawgs. Illinois is the overall leader at 2-under 286, the only team under par.
“We weren't playing well enough to survive those big numbers,” said Thurmond. “You are going to make some bogeys out here, but you just can't make the triples.”
Cheng-Tsung Pan led the Huskies with a round of even-par 72 and tied for 24th place, though it could have been much better if not for one hole. The senior had his round at 2-under, before coming to the par-four fifth. Two balls in the water later, he made a triple-bogey seven. Pan did birdie his second-to-last hole, the par-four eighth and is in striking distance of the lead, held by Claudio Correa of USF and Thoms Detry of Illinois who are 4-under. He should only get better this week, now having a competitive round under his belt on the difficult Concession course.
“I love the course; it's phenomenal” said Thurmond. “If you play well, you can shoot a good score, but you have to pay attention all the time. You have to have a well-rounded game, but it doesn't favor any type of player. If you aren't playing well or controlling your ball, it'll kill you.”
Also playing well for the Huskies and tied for 35th is Corey Pereira who played his second nine, the front side, at 2-under. Pereira got off to a slow start, hitting his first shot of the day on the 10th hole into the water, but then settling down and played well from that point forward. He made three birdies on the day and shot 1-over 73.
Jonathan Sanders limped to the finish a bit, bogeying three of his final four holes, but still shot 4-over 76. Sanders made two birdies and had a stretch of 11 holes where he was 2-under, before the tough finish. He is currently tied for 79th place.
The final score kept by Washington came from Frank Garber after shooting 8-over 80. The freshman played well through his first 12 holes, making two birdies and three bogeys, but also limped to the finish. He is tied for 133rd after the opening round.
Kevin Kwon rounded out the squad with a score of 10-over 82 in a tie for 147th. Kwon actually played well for the most part, but was done in with one hole, making a 10 on the par-four fifth. Otherwise, Kwon had two birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey on the day.
The Huskies will be back at it on Saturday for the second round of the NCAA Championships, teeing off the first hole starting at 12:20 p.m. local time or 9:20 a.m., PT. The Huskies will once again be paired with Auburn and UCLA as they look to move up the leaderboard.
“We are not out of it by any means,” said Thurmond. “We are up against the wall a little bit now. I am excited for tomorrow to see what we can do.”
Players Mentioned
