Maryland
NCAA East Regional
Gold Has Strong Showing at NCAA Golf
5/17/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 17, 2007
ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Chris Gold fired a 3-under-par round of 69 on Thursday, the best round at an NCAA event by a University of Maryland player since 1994, to lead the Terrapins to eighth place after the first round of the 2007 NCAA East Regional Golf Tournament.
Georgia Tech is serving as the host of the 54-hole tournament, being played at the Lakeside Course at the Golf Club of Georgia.
As a team, Maryland opened play with a 7-over-par total of 295. The Terrapins were in eighth place among the 27 teams after the first round, despite entering the tournament as the 23rd seed. The top 10 teams, plus two individuals not on qualifying teams, advance to the NCAA Championships on May 30 to June 2 in Williamsburg, Va.
Gold, a sophomore in his first semester in College Park since transferring from Texas Tech, birdied the third, fourth and eighth holes to turn the front nine in 33. He suffered two bogies early in the back nine, but birdied the 15th and 18th to post his 69 and tie for the clubhouse lead among the early starters. It was his best round of the season in the six-plus events he's played for the Terrapins.
Gold's sub-70 round was the best by a Terrapin since Del Ponchock closed with a final-round 68 in the 1994 NCAA East Regional in Opelika, Ala. Ponchock finished in a tie for 19th in that event.
He was tied for third in the individual standings after the first round with two other players. Cameron Tringale of Georgia Tech led with a 5-under-par 67, one stroke ahead of teammate Chesson Hadley.
Maryland senior Matt Schall, playing in the fourth NCAA regional of his career, had 16 pars on his card, including the final 11 holes, en route to a 2-over-par 74. He was tied for 35th place in the 141-player field after the first round.
Senior Skip Clasper took advantage of only his second event of the season in the Terrapin lineup. He also finished at 74 with a round that included three birdies.
Tyler Witman, the third senior in the Terps' lineup, was tied for 93rd place after a 78, while junior J.J. Occi was tied for 108th after a 79.
Georgia Tech led the team standings after firing a 4-under-par team score of 284. Georgia was second at 286, with Duke in third at 288. Maryland finished the first day with a two-stroke cushion on 10th place Penn State. UCF and Chattanooga were tied for 11th at 299.
Maryland tees off in Friday's second round at 12:59 p.m. and will go off the 10th tee. Tee times for Saturday's third round are dependent on the team scores after 36 holes.
TEAM STANDINGS
1 Georgia Tech 284 284 -4 2 Georgia 286 286 -2 3 Duke University 288 288 E 4 Georgia State Univ. 289 289 +1 5 Florida 290 290 +2 T6 Auburn 293 293 +5 T6 Clemson 293 293 +5 8 Maryland, U. of 295 295 +7 9 Charlotte 296 296 +8 10 Penn State U. 297 297 +9 T11 UCF 299 299 +11 T11 Tennessee-Chattanooga 299 299 +11 T13 Coastal Carolina 300 300 +12 T13 Eastern Michigan U. 300 300 +12 T13 Florida State Univ. 300 300 +12 T16 UAB 303 303 +15 T16 Jacksonville St. 303 303 +15 18 Virginia Tech 304 304 +16 19 North Carolina 305 305 +17 T20 Mississippi, U. of 309 309 +21 T20 Longwood University 309 309 +21 23 Old Dominion 314 314 +26 24 Boston College 315 315 +27 25 St. John's 316 316 +28 T26 Rhode Island 321 321 +33 T26 Hartford 321 321 +33MARYLAND SCORES
T3. Chris Gold 33-36--69; T35. Matt Schall 38-36--74; T35. Skip Clasper 36-38--74; T93. Tyler Witman 39-39--78; T108. J.J. Occi 34-45--79.
