Clemson golf tied for seventh at NCAA West Regional
Posted 10:41 p.m., May 15, 2008
From Clemson SID:
Clemson Tied for Seventh Place after First Round of NCAA West Regional
Stanley Leads way with Even Par 72
May 15, 2008
Clemson, SC—Gig Harbor, Washington native Kyle Stanley fired an even
par
72 to lead Clemson to a 295 team score and a seventh place standing
after
the first round of the NCAA West Regional at the Gold Mountain Course
in
Bremerton, WA. Clemson is in seventh place in the 27-team field and
must
finish in the top 10 of the three-round event to reach the NCAA
Championships at Purdue University May 28-31.
Clemson’s 295 team score is just six shots behind first place
Oregon, who
posted a 289 score earlier in the day. But, the Tigers are also just
three shots ahead of the 10th place cutline in the tightly contested
event. Clemson’s 295 score tied for the best (with North Carolina)
among the 15 schools not based in the western time zone.
Clemson is making its 27th consecutive appearance in the NCAA
Tournament,
the 25th year in a row under head coach Larry Penley. Penley has taken
the Tigers to the NCAA championship round in 22 of his 24 previous
seasons.
Stanley, who lives just 20 minutes from the Gold Mountain Course,
birdied
three of his last five holes to lead the Tigers. The All-American
sophomore pared his first five holes, then made a double bogey on the
15th hole, his sixth hole of the day. He followed that with a bogey on
the 16th hole to go to three over par.
But, Stanley made a birdie on the 18th hole, his ninth of the day, to
get his round back on track. He then birdied the fifth, sixth and
eighth
holes on the front side before finishing with a par and the top round
of
the day by a Clemson golfer. He chipped in for birdie on the difficult
par three eighth hole.
Classmate Sam Saunders set the pace for the Tigers in the early stages
of
the round with three birdies within his first five holes. He made a
double bogey six on the 17th hole, but settled down to play one over
par
golf the rest of the way. His only blemish was a bogey six on the par
five sixth hole. He might have had the best ball striking day among
the
Tiger golfers as he hit 15 of the 18 greens in regulation.
Ben Martin was the next best Clemson golfer on Thursday with a 74. He
struggled early with a pair of bogeys by his fourth hole. But, he
played
the last 14 holes at even par. A birdie on the 18th hole, his ninth
hole of the day was a highlight.
Junior Phillip Mollica had the wildest round of the day among Clemson
golfers. The native of Anderson, SC had a team best six birdies, but
he
also had two double bogeys, both on the front nine, he second nine of
the
day. He had just four pars all day. The highlight of his round took
place on the front nine when he had birdies on the fourth, fifth and
sixth holes.
Junior David May had a four over par 76 to round out the Clemson
scores.
The native of Auburn, NY had five bogeys and one birdie, which came on
the par five sixth hole.
Clemson will be in the morning tee time slot on Friday, which should
have
calmer conditions.
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