Rice University
NCAA Central Regional
Rice Makes Up Ground
5/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 21, 2010
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COLLEGE STATION - With Christopher Brown firing a four-under par 68 and three other Rice golfers shooting even par 72s, the Owls closed the gap between themselves and the heart of the field at the NCAA South Central Regional Friday at the Traditions Club.
Rice currently sits in 10th place after a second-round 284 score on Friday left the squad at +7 through 36 holes of play. The final round is slated for Saturday morning with the first Rice golfer - Brock Wilson - teeing off from the 10th tee at 8:20 a.m. The top five teams from the regional will advance to the NCAA Golf Championship finals.
Currently, Pepperdine occupies the fifth spot. The Wave shot an even par score on Friday and are two-under for the tournament.
Between Pepperdine and Rice are four teams within five strokes of the Owls. North Florida and Auburn are tied for sixth at +2 while Tulsa and Baylor are tied for eighth at +4.
Texas A&M remains in first at -11 while Texas Tech is second at -10. TCU, the first-round co-leader, fell to third at -8 while Wichita State is fourth at -3.
"We are really excited about tomorrow," said Rice golf coach Drew Scott. "We made a move and I think we will be in shouting distance of getting one of those elusive five spots to go to Chattanooga (host of the NCAA Golf Championship finals)."
Rice began the day 16 strokes back of fifth place and as a team was 11th. And while the Owls moved up just one spot to 10th in the team standings on Friday, the squad made greater strides in closing the gap on much of the tournament field.
Scott said the Owls will need to keep up the pace while playing smarter on Saturday.
"We will need to eliminate some of the mistakes we made today and value every shot," he said. "We did that a lot better today from yesterday and that is the difference in shooting a 299 and a 284. That's the difference of 15 strokes. Hopefully we can shave a few more tomorrow."
Rice played the back nine first and after the turn, Brown birdied the fifth, sixth and seventh holes to get to four-under par for the day. The senior is now two-under for the tournament and tied for 12th heading into Saturday's final round.
Wichita State's Dustin Garza and Texas A&M Ignacio Elvira both fired 70s to maintain a share of the individual lead. Both golfers were part of a four-way tie for first after Thursday's first round and are currently at -8 after 36 holes. Georgia's Russell Henley and TCU's Johan de Beer both fired round-low 67s Friday and are tied for third at -6.
Rice will be paired with Georgia, the Southeastern Conference champion, and Big East champion Georgetown for Saturday's final round.
Brown will be in the same group as Henley. With a 9 a.m. tee time, they will be the last players off the No. 10 tee for their respective teams.
Rice junior Michael Whitehead was two-under par after a birdie on four but had two bogeys down the final stretch to fall back to even par. He currently is tied for 20th. Whitehead's round was highlighted by an eagle on No. 14.
Michael Buttacavoli and Brock Wilson also shot even par for the day on Friday.
Players Mentioned
