University of Washington
NCAA West Regionals
Huskies Tied For 15th After First Round At NCAA West Regional
May 17, 2007 | Men's Golf
May 17, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Led by true freshman Joel Dahmen's 5-under 67, the 38th-ranked Washington men's golf team shot 4-under 284 in the first round of the NCAA West Regional at Arizona State's Karsten Golf Course on Thursday, finishing the day tied for 15th among the highly competitive 27-team field.
The Huskies sit 16 strokes behind leader UCLA (20-under 268) heading into tomorrow's second round. The fourth-ranked Bruins lead second-place South Carolina by five strokes (15-under 273), followed by Arizona State and New Mexico in a tie for third (13-under 275). Washington is tied for 15th with Colorado State and August State.
Dahmen equaled a career-low with his 67 in the first round and is tied for seventh in the individual field, but his next closest teammates - senior Alex Prugh and junior Zach Bixler - are tied for 74th overall after both carding rounds of even-par 72. Rounding out the Husky lineup were sophomore Chris Killmer at 1-over 73 (tied for 85th) and senior Erik Olson at 7-over 79 (tied for 137th).
"Today for the most part felt like a poor day for our team so I feel good that we're right in it," sixth-year UW head coach Matt Thurmond said. "We're not in the top-10 right now but we're a good round away from being right where we need to be. For how we looked and how we played I actually feel okay about where we are. Your biggest fear is to shoot yourself out of it in day one, and frankly with some of the shots I saw out there I feel like we're lucky we didn't do that. But we battled hard and hung in there."
Dahmen, who was playing fifth in the UW lineup, tallied six birdies and one bogey in the opening round. His 5-under 67 matched a career and season-low set at the Hawaii-Hilo Intercollegiate on Feb. 8.
"Joel was awesome," Thurmond said. "We've talked about regionals all year and there's a lot of pressure on this tournament. For him to step up like he did says a lot. We'd be in big trouble without him today."
In the individual race, UCLA's Erik Flores shot 8-under 64 in the first round and holds a one-stroke lead over New Mexico's Charlie Beljan (7-under 65). Four players are tied for third at 6-under 66 - Oregon State's James Allenby, UCLA's Kevin Chappell, Cal's Michael Jensen and Pepperdine's Carl Smith.
The NCAA West Regional continues with the second round Friday. The Huskies are slated to tee off at 7:35 a.m. tomorrow. The tournament wraps up with the final round on Saturday.
The top-10 team finishers and top-two individuals (not on a top-10 team) at the NCAA West Regional advance to play at the NCAA Championships in Williamsburg, Va., May 30-June 2.
2007 NCAA WEST REGIONAL
Tempe, Ariz.
Karsten Golf Course
Host: Arizona State University
Par 72, 7057 yards
Team Leaderboard - First Round1. UCLA 268, -20 2. South Carolina 273, -15 3. Arizona State 275, -13 3. New Mexico 275, -13 5. Stanford 277, -11 5. USC 277, -11 5. Pepperdine 277, -11 8. East Tennessee State 278, -10 9. California 280, -8 10. Oregon State 281, -7 10. UNLV 281, -7 12. Arizona 282, -6 13. BYU 283, -5 13. Vanderbilt 283, -5 15. Colorado State 284, -4 15. Augusta State 284, -4 15. Washington 284, -4 18. Denver 285, -3 18. Wake Forest 285, -3 20. Penn 288, E 21. Nevada 289, +1 21. UC Irvine 289, +1 23. Oregon 292, +4 24. San Diego State 296, +8 25. Detroit 297, +9 26. Bucknell 299, +11 27. Monmouth 302, +14
Individual Leaderboard - First Round 1. Erik Flores, UCLA 64, -8 2. Charlie Beljan, New Mexico 65, -7 3. James Allenby, Oregon State 66, -6 3. Kevin Chappell, UCLA 66, -6 3. Michael Jensen, California 66, -6 3. Carl Smith, Pepperdine 66, -6 7. Benjamin Alvarado, Arizona State 67, -5 7. Joel Dahmen, Washington 67, -5 7. Rory Hie, USC 67, -5 7. Zack Miller, Stanford 67, -5 7. Chance Pipitone, Penn 67, -5
Washington Results - First Round T7. Joel Dahmen 67, -5 T74. Zach Bixler 72, E T74. Alex Prugh 72, E T85. Chris Killmer 73, +1 T137. Erik Olson 79, +7
