Sooners second in Norman, Cowboys tied for fifth in Las Vegas as regionals begin
NORMAN — After 18 holes at its home course, No. 9 Oklahoma is in second place and one back of the team lead at the NCAA Norman Regional.
Sophomore Drew Goodman shares the individual lead at the 54-hole tournament hosted at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman. Two other Sooners, Ben Lorenz and Patrick Welch, join the sophomore inside the top 15.
“I thought we had an OK day,” head coach Ryan Hybl said after the round. “We had two guys combine to go 10-under par and we just have to find a way to get our two guys over par into the red tomorrow. It’s always nice to play at your home course, but that comes with some nerves. I think those nerves settle a bit going into day two, so we’ll look to have a better day tomorrow. Overall, we’re in a really good spot but we’re looking forward to tomorrow’s round.”
Looking to advance to their 12th consecutive NCAA Championship, the Sooners (2, -9) teed off Monday after a three-hour weather delay. OU’s 279 (-9) was good enough to keep it in the hunt to win its seventh NCAA Regional in program history. The 14-team, 54-hole tournament is one of six NCAA Regionals that serve as the preliminary events for the NCAA Championship, which OU has advanced to every year since 2011, the second-longest streak in the nation. The low five teams and the low individual not on a qualifying team in Norman will attend the NCAA Championship, scheduled for May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Initially slated to tee off at 8 a.m., thunderstorms pushed OU’s tee time to 11 a.m., but once the Sooners were on the course, they wasted no time bolting up the leaderboard. Patrick Welch (T15, -1) posted a birdie on the par-4 first hole, and Ben Lorenz (T4, -4) opened his day with three birdies as the Sooners jumped in front early.
A trio of big numbers around the turn opened the door for top-seeded No. 5 Texas Tech to make their move, which the Red Raiders did behind the play of the world’s No. 1 amateur Ludvig Aberg (3, -5), who posted a clean-card 67 Monday. Oklahoma battled to reclaim the top spot but played the back nine just 4-under while TTU rattled off a 10-under mark over the final nine holes to take a one-shot lead into Tuesday’s second round.
Drew Goodman (T1, -6) bogeyed his first two holes but was nearly perfect the rest of the day, tallying six birdies, an eagle and no bogeys to grab a share of the lead at 6-under par. It was Goodman’s, a sophomore from Norman, 11th round in the 60s this season, and his spring’s lowest round. He shares the lead with Alabama’s Nick Dunlap, and the two will be paired along with Aberg on Tuesday.
“I got off to a pretty ragged start and it was obviously not how you want to start the week off, but I was able to turn it around really quickly,” Goodman said. “A couple of birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 and then played well in the middle of the round. I’m glad I could do that for the team because we didn’t play our best today, but we’ll come out here tomorrow and try and play a bit better.”
Ben Lorenz holds fourth after a 4-under 68 as the junior made his second NCAA regional appearance on Monday. A string of four birdies in his first five holes saw the Arizona native surge into first, but an even-par mark over the rest of his round bumped him down the leaderboard.
Patrick Welch, making his fourth NCAA Regional appearance for the Sooners, carded a 71 (-1) as he extended his school record for par-or-better rounds to 90. Stephen Campbell Jr. (T45, +2) and freshman Jase Summy (T56, +4) closed the Sooners’ contingent.
The Sooners tee off at 8 a.m. on Tuesday with Texas Tech (1, -10) and Alabama (3, -7). Entering the second round of play, Oklahoma is six shots clear of the championship cut.
Cowboys shoot 12-under, share fifth in Las Vegas Regional
Live scoring Las Vegas Regional
LAS VEGAS – Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team opened play with a 12-under-par 276 to stand in a tie for fifth place at the NCAA Las Vegas Regional after the first day of action at Bear’s Best on Monday.
The Cowboys wrapped up the opening round in a three-way tie with Davidson and UNC Greensboro at the par-72, 7,217-yard layout. Arizona State grabbed a six-shot lead through the first 18 holes with its 26-under tally of 262.
ASU’s Preston Summerhays posted a 10-under 62 to lead the individual race by a shot.
Hazen Newman led the way for OSU’s starting five with a 67 to share 14th place. The senior started his day on the back nine and opened with a birdie at the 10th before carding three more to go out in 4-under 32. After a bogey at the first, Newman birdied Nos. 2 and 3 before countering a bogey at the fourth with his final birdie of the day at the sixth.
Fifth year Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen was a stroke back with a 68 that also featured a bogey-free outward nine of 32. He finished the day tied for 19th place.
Junior Jonas Baumgartner posted a 2-under 70 to stand in a tie for 33rd place.
Bo Jin made it four Cowboys under par with his 71. The junior wrapped up his first round tied for 42nd place.
Fifth year Leo Oyo’s 74 tied him for 62nd place.
The Cowboys will get their second round underway tomorrow at 8 a.m. (PST) and will be grouped with East Tennessee State and UNCG. Live scoring for the event is available at golfstat.com.