Sat. Jul 27th, 2024

There were more scores in the 80s than under par in Friday’s first round at 2024 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship

By admin May29,2024

[]

CARLSBAD, Calif. — The NCAA Men’s Golf Championship is underway.

Rainy and cool conditions welcomed players who teed off early for a majority of the morning, but in the afternoon, the sun broke through, winds picked up and Omni La Costa’s North Course showed its strength, testing the best players in the country.

No team shot under par in the first round, and there were more players who shot in the 80s over players who signed for rounds under par.

Here’s what you need to know from the opening round at Omni La Costa.

Ohio State’s Adam Wallin. (Photo: Ohio State men’s golf)

Coming into the 2024 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, Adam Wallin has no finishes better than seventh this season and two top-10 finishes in 11 stroke-play starts.

After 18 holes at the national championship, he’s beating all but one other player in the field. Wallin, the senior at Ohio State, put together a stellar 4-under 68 opening round that included five birdies and one bogey. The 68 was his fifth time shooting that score or better this season in 33 rounds, and he’s solo second after the opening day.

The round helped the Buckeyes shoot 6 over on Friday, the best team score from those who played in the morning during the opening round.

Maxwell Moldovan and Jackson Chandler each shot 3 over for Ohio State.

Pace of play always seems to be a conversation at any golf tournament. And playing too slow got three players a one-stroke penalty during the first round.

North Florida’s Andrew Riley, LSU’s Alex Price and SMU’s J. Holland Humphries were all docked a shot. The group was the third pairing between the teams.

Riley finished at 9 over for the day, while Price was 4 over when he signed his card and Humphries was 5 over.

Coming into the opening round, the consensus among coaches was Omni La Costa was going to be a difficult challenge, and any scores under par would be a stellar round.

Friday’s opening round proved just that. In fact, Omni La Costa punched the best college golf teams and players in the face like a heavyweight boxer.

The scoring average in the opening round was 75.84, which was higher than all but the third round (76.44) of the women’s championship last week. The par-5 14th hole, which plays 514 yards back into the wind, was the hardest hole of the day, averaging 4.49 strokes.

Similar to the women, the back nine played harder cumulatively than the front nine, though the two easiest holes on the course were the par-5 10th and par-5 18th holes.

There’s still plenty to figure out about the course, but as of now, Omni La Costa is proving it’s a stout championship test.

There were as many scores of 86 or higher than there were in the 60s.

No team shot under par on Friday, but Arizona and Virginia are the teams out front after 18 holes.

The Wildcats and Cavaliers each sit at 2 over, and North Carolina, one of the pre-tournament favorites, is a shot behind. Top-ranked Auburn, which won nine times this year, is three shots behind and T-5 with Illinois.

Defending national champion Florida is in eighth at 7 over. John DuBois posted a bogey-free 3-under 69, one of four scores in the 60s.

For Virginia, George Duangmanee shot 1 under while brother Josh was even par. Reigning Freshman of the Year Ben James was 1 over.

For Arizona, Tiger Christensen shot 2 under and is T-5. Filip Jakubcik shot even par.

Hiroshi Tai started his round with a birdie. He also finished it with one. And in between, there were a lot of them, too.

The sophomore at Georgia Tech is the solo leader after an opening 5-under 67. He had seven birdies in total on the day, including a big par save on the par-5 sixth hole.

Last year, another Georgia Tech golfer, Ross Steelman, held the first-round lead at Grayhawk.

Source

By admin

Related Post