LEADERBOARDS

 

STILLWATER, Okla.---It was a good start for Chattanooga at the 2009 NCAA Men's Golf South Central Regional at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.  The Mocs shot 10-over par 298 to stand tied for second with No. 9 Arkansas and No. 21 LSU.

 

Five teams are within three shots of the Cowboys lead as No. 16 TCU and Tulsa are three shots back at 11-over par 299.  Baylor is in seventh place with a 301 (+13).

 

It was a soggy day which made a long golf course (7,407 yards) that much longer.  For the first time in an estimated 103 championship events (regionals and finals), the NCAA allowed the players to lift, clean and place from the closely mown areas (fairways, first cut of rough) as balls regularly plugged from the tee as well as the fairway.

 

Some more solace was found in the general lack of wind on the course.  The practice round saw wind gusts in excess of 35 miles per hour which made for an interesting day.

 

Harnessing the course was a tough task, but the Mocs managed quite well.  Senior Ben Rickett's even-par 72 led the way.

 

Rickett, in a tie for sixth, opened with a lost ball and a bogey on No. 10 as the Mocs started their day on the back nine.  Rickett quickly followed with 15-20 foot birdie putts at 11 and 12 to move to one-under par.  For the day, Rickett scored five birdies against five bogeys.

 

Freshman Stephan Jaeger shot a 73 (+1) on his day.  He turned at one-under par with two front nine birdies at Nos. 14 and 18, both par fives.  A wayward second shot at the par five first was his one blip on the radar.

 

Jaeger ended the first with a double bogey when a four-footer cruelly lipped out.  He posted pars the rest of the way in to finish one over in a tie for 11th.

 

Derek Rende maneuvered his way around the course at three-over par 75.  Rende bogeyed three of his final four holes in his first nine to turn at plus three.  A birdie on the par five first hole got him back to plus two, but a bogey on four along with seven pars ended his day at 75, tied for 28th.

 

Jonathan Hodge and Fredrik Qvicker each had their own struggles today.  Hodge opened with an eight on the par four 10th hole.  He played his first nine at five-over par 41 and was at seven-over par through 13 holes.  Coming in, Hodge missed a couple of birdie putts on seven and eight before a birdie four on nine gave him a 78 (+6).

 

Qvicker started off bogey, birdie and bogey before three straight pars calmed the waters a bit.  A double bogey on the par five 18th hole had him at four-over par at his turn.  He dropped to eight over through 14 holes before a beautiful birdie on six got him back to seven over par.  Qvicker dropped a clutch 15 foot par put on seven followed by pars at eight and nine to end up with a 79 (+7).

 

“I'm really proud of our effort,” said Head Coach Mark Guhne.  “This is a tough, tough golf course and I think two more rounds like this one gets us in the top five and goes to nationals...I really do.

 

“You can't win the event on the first day, but you can shoot yourself out of it,” added Guhne.  “We put ourselves in good position.”

 

South Dakota State's Trent Peterson leads individually at five-under par, 67.  LSU's John Peterson is three back at 70 (-2).  Devin Carrey (La.-Lafayette), Kelly Kraft (SMU) and Ethan Tracy (Arkansas) are tied for third at 71 (-1).  Peterson, Carrey and Kraft are all playing as individuals.

 

Chattanooga tees off at 9:40 a.m. (CDT) with play starting at Hole No. 1.  The Mocs are paired with Oklahoma State and Arkansas.  Qvicker will start the day off for the Mocs followed by Hodge, Rende, Jaeger and Rickett.

 

NOTES:

 

>Live hole-by-hole scoring is available at http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/index.cfm?tournament_id=1465.

 

>Just 10 shots separate the top 11 teams.

 

>Leaders:  Par 3:  Fredrik Qvicker (-1), Par 4:  Stephan Jaeger/Ben Rickett (E), Par 5:  Jonathan Hodge, Derek Rende, Jaeger and Rickett (E).

 

>Mocs on Holes 1-9:  +2.  Holes 10-18:  +7.  Nine-hole scoring is based on top four players for that nine, not counters for the day.

 

>Rickett made four of his five birdies on par fours with the other coming at the par three 11th hole.  He had four pars on the par five holes.

 

>Jaeger's 14 pars were a team high.

 

>Rende entered the tournament with 99 birdies on the season but just had one in the opening round to get to 100 on the season.  Rickett is now the team leader with 103.

 

>Hodge's round was marred by the quadruple bogey eight to open.  After that, he played solid golf going two-over par the remainder of the round with several good birdie putts that just missed coming down the stretch.

 

>Qvicker just missed having the shot of the day for the Mocs.  He missed at 62-foot birdie putt by mere inches as his putt stopped on the right lip of the hole.  He had perfect pace, but the ball just decided to stay out of the hole.