The second weekend of college golf action around the nation was an exciting one, and with the results in, the NCCGA National Championship qualifying picture is starting to take shape.
Congratulations to this week’s NCCGA Team and Player of the Week – Arizona State and Marquette’s James Christian. Very well deserved selections.
Here are my impressions based on the scores from around the nation:
Texas Region
Defending national champion Baylor is going to have a tough time in the Texas Region. Coming off their win at Crystal Springs, Baylor was upset by Texas-Austin (1st place) and the Golf Academy of America-Dallas (2nd place). Kudos to Texas’ Carson Stepler, who followed up an even-par 72 Saturday with a 3-under, 69 on Sunday to grab Medalist honors.
See all the weekend scores here
North Region
Perennial nationals qualifier Wisconsin continued their dominance in the North. More on the North from RC Bobby Puchner: After firing a 401 on Saturday, the Badger’s “A” Team turned it around and posted a blistering 369 on Sunday. The Badgers were paced by CJ Fritcher, Matt McIntosh and Wei Tan Chean, who all carded rounds of 1-over, 73. Corey Sweeney and Tyler Piddington added solid rounds of 75. The Badger’s “B” team posted five scores under 80 on Sunday to finish at 783 for the weekend. Bryan Taruno led with a 75. UW-Whitewater (806) rounded out the top three teams. On the individual side, Marquette sophomore James Christian flew out of the gate with an opening-round 70 (-2) on Saturday. Christian stayed steady on Sunday with an even-par 72 to claim medalist by four strokes over Michigan Tech’s Mike Mueller (146). Five Badgers and UW-Milwaukee Panther George Schley joined Christian and Mueller on the all-tournament team.
Atlantic Region
Pittsburgh won their fifth-straight Regional Tournament in the Atlantic over the weekend. The Panthers look well on their way to a fourth consecutive Nationals appearance too, and look to do some major contending after placing 11th at Crystal Springs. With seven scores in the 70’s in Sunday’s final round, Pitt looks primed to lock up a trip to Dancing Rabbit in a couple weeks.
Ohio Valley Region
The Ohio Valley Region just might be the most competitive in the nation this semester. No. 6 Ohio State squeaked out a 2-stroke victory over ranked teams Cincinnati and Miami (OH). Each team had an individual participate in the three-way playoff, with Cincinnati’s Tyler Regueyra coming out on top. Stay tuned for more exciting action in the OV.
South Region
Alabama had a big comeback in the South to overcome Tennessee Tech. Alabama, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Knoxville should all be considered strong candidates for Nationals bids via the automatic selection or the wild card.
Central Region
Missouri. Nationals. Sharpie.
Desert Region
Arizona State is legit. More from RC Daniel Herder: The Desert Region fall season got off to an electric start this past weekend at Oakwood Golf Club in Sun Lakes, AZ when a large thunderstorm hit shortly into Saturday’s round. After completing just six holes, play had to be suspended as torrential rain and high winds plummeted the area. At the conclusion of the restarted round one Sunday morning, ASU (A) held a comfortable lead with a team score of only +7 to par. After a short break the players were back out on the course Sunday afternoon for round two, playing 30 total holes Sunday between the two rounds. In round two Benedictine player Benjamin Potter carded the round of the regional, signing for a 68, but that wasn’t quite enough to earn medalist honors with ASU player Jack Hiemenz winning in a scorecard playoff. ASU (A) cruised to a 20 shot team win, and Arizona picked up the three points with their second place finish.
**Dave Uhrmacher (@DaveUhrm) is the NCCGA Director of Communications.
