Rice University
NCAA Central Regional
Rice 11th After Opening Round of NCAA Regional
5/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 20, 2010
COLLEGE STATION - The 18-hole score was not where the Owls would have preferred it to be.
Rice University, playing in its first NCAA Regional in 13 years, posted a first-round score of 299 (+11) on Thursday at the Traditions Club and finds itself in 11th place with two rounds left to play.
The top-five finishers at the South Central Regional being hosted by Texas A&M will advance to the NCAA Golf Championship finals. Currently, the Owls set 16 strokes back of Wichita State which holds down the fifth spot at the regional following Thursday's play after firing a 283 (-5).
Rice fifth-year coach Drew Scott said the Owls can not look at the leader board tomorrow, instead focusing on their individual play.
"We just need to go out and play a lot better tomorrow and play our own games," he said. "If we were to try to force things it could be a long two more days. The more we force things, the more trouble we may get into. But if we just go out and have a solid round, then we will look at the scoreboard at the end of the day and see if we made up any shots."
Michael Whitehead's even par 72 was the Owls' leading score on Thursday. Whitehead birdied two of the first three holes and was -2 at the turn before a couple late bogeys. He is currently tied for 23rd individually.
"Michael has been playing real steady," Scott said. "Everything seems to click when you are feeling it. And hopefully he will be feeling it a little more tomorrow, put up some red numbers and help our team even more."
Christopher Brown, the Conference USA medalist, rebounded from a horrible start to fire a two-over par 74. Brown began the regional with a double-bogey seven on the opening hole and was +5 after the first six holes of the tournament.
"We have been playing well for the past couple weeks, at least at practice and the guys had a good day at the U.S. Open local qualifier on Monday in Houston," Scott said. "But sometimes your games just don't reflect what you want it to be when it finally matters. Today was really more of a mental challenge than physical. To be in that setting was very new to everybody, even our seniors. But we are excited about tomorrow and bettering today's play.
Rice will be paired with Southeastern Conference champion Georgia, which advanced to match play at last year's NCAA finals along with North Carolina.
Georgia shot a 294 score on Thursday and is currently 10th. North Carolina shot a 301 and is 12th.
"From an athletic department standpoint, those are two of the marquee programs in the country," Scott said. "What a stage for us to be on tomorrow. It should be a tremendous day for us.
"Georgia didn't play well today so they will have the same attitude we have and obviously want to play better. North Carolina has had an up and down year but have two wins just like us. But they struggled like a lot of other teams did today."
The three teams will begin teeing off from No. 10 Friday morning beginning at 8:50 a.m.
South Central Regional Notes
- Texas A&M and TCU both shot 277s (-11) and share the first-round lead. The Aggies and Horned Frogs will be paired Friday with North Florida which shot an opening-round 280.
- Four players are tied for the lead after the first round of play at the NCAA South Central Regional. Texas A&M's Ignacio Elvira, TCU's Daniel Jennevret, North Florida's Kevin Phelan and Wichita State's Dustin Garza all shot six-under par 66s on Thursday.
- Rice head coach is a North Carolina native who transferred to UNC from Rice before returning to play his final semester for the Owls. While Rice has played in tournaments in which North Carolina has also participated, this will be the first time a Scott-coached team has been paired with the Tar Heels.
Players Mentioned
