UCO, Wilson open strong in NCAA D-II National Championship hunt
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Central Oklahoma is in seventh place after the first round of the NCAA Men’s Golf National Championship Monday at PGA National. Oklahoma Christian was in 12th place.
UCO shot a 2-over-par 290 on the 7,074-yard Par 72 course. St. Mary’s leads the 20-team field after shooting a 9-under 279 Monday. Florida Southern (286) and Lee (287) are second and third. North Georgia, Missouri S&T, and Columbus State are all tied for fourth at 289, one shot in front of the Bronchos.
Jordan Wilson led UCO Monday with a 2-under 70. He is also in seventh place in the individual race for a national title after 54 holes this week. The leader is Bennett McNabb of Lee University at 6-under par. Five other players are 5-, 4-, and 3-under in front of Wilson.
Wilson started the day with a strong first six holes. He began with two pars before a birdie on the Par 5 third, then had two more pars before a birdie on the Par 5 sixth. Wilson finished with two bogeys around a birdie on eight and was 1-under at the turn. On the back nine, Wilson sank four more birdies on 10, 14, 16, and 18. He added two pars and had three bogeys to finish 1-under again and 2-under for the day.
Nick Canales is 20th individually after an even-par 72. Just one more stroke, Baylor Bostick is 36th after a 1-over 73. Bennett Baldwin shot a rare 3-over-par 75 Monday, just above the field average of 74.4 after one round. Karsten Paciotti is also in the lineup and shot a 4-over 76 Monday.
Canales only had one blemish on the front nine, a bogey on No. 3. But he birdied the next hole, parred four straight, and sank another birdie on No. 9 to finish the front nine 1-under. Canales also had three bogeys on the back nine but he started and finished with birdies to shoot a 1-over 37 and finish even for the day.
Central Oklahoma and 19 other squads are competing for a spot in the top eight to advance to match play in the national quarterfinals Thursday morning. The top individual after 54 holes of stroke play will be crowned national champion.
Oklahoma Christian was holding inside the top-5 after the first 13 holes, but a team-score of +13 on the last combined five holes has the Eagles outside the top-10 after day one.
Oskari Nikku paces the OC five-bag with a 2-under 70, playing bogey-free golf until the 15th hole. Nikku’s sub-par opening round has him tied for seventh in the 108-player field.
Leandro Mihaich is tied for 36th with an opening-round 1-over 73. Mihaich, who led the Eagles and was tied for fifth in the field with five birdies, joined Nikku at 3-under 38 after 10 holes.
Exequiel Rodriguez started out his round 3-over 31 through seven holes before settling in for a 4-over 76. The two-time defending LSC Men’s Golf Academic Player of the Year saw the second-best back-nine of any Eagle behind team-leader Nikku. Joey Lewis and Vertti Perala rounded out the OC five-bag with five-over 77s.
No. 7 Oklahoma Christian will get day two started from historic PGA National Tuesday, May 20 at 8:20 a.m. CT as Perala will get OC underway. Lewis, Rodriguez, Nikku and Mihaich will follow Perala’s lead in 11-minute increments.