University of Washington
NCAA West Regionals
Scorching Second Round Moves Huskies Into Fifth At NCAA West Regional
May 18, 2007 | Men's Golf
May 18, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Washington men's golf shot a scorching 17-under 271 in the second round of the NCAA West Regional at Arizona State's Karsten Golf Course, Friday, to climb into a tie for fifth place on the team leaderboard. The Huskies turned in the day's second-best round and improved 10 places in the standings after finishing the first round in a tie for 15th.
Washington is tied for fifth with East Tennessee State at 21-under 555 and will enter Saturday's final round 14 strokes behind leader UCLA (35-under 541). South Carolina is second (34-under 542), followed by USC and Arizona State in a tie for third (26-under 550). The top-10 team finishers after tomorrow's 18 holes will advance to compete in the NCAA Championships in Williamsburg, Va., May 30-June 2.
All five Huskies shot rounds under-par on Friday, led by a 6-under 66 from senior Alex Prugh and a 5-under 67 from sophomore Chris Killmer. Freshman Joel Dahmen maintained his position among the top-10 players on the individual leaderboard with a 4-under 68, while junior Zach Bixler and senior Erik Olson each carded rounds of 2-under 70.
"Today we had an excellent round and I was really happy with the way we finished, we played really well coming in," UW head coach Matt Thurmond said. "But that doesn't make what we have to do tomorrow any easier, we still have to have a great round because this golf course doesn't separate teams very well. It's really tight and we've got to use whatever good feelings we had today and take them into tomorrow."
Dahmen tops all Huskies at 9-under 135 overall and sits in a tie for seventh place with four other players three shots behind the leaders heading into Saturday's final round. The only true freshman in the lineup, Dahmen sank five birdies and a bogey in the second round. He will be aiming for his first career top-10 tournament finish, his best being a 15th-place standing at the first event of the season - the Opus NW Husky Invitational.
"I'm happy for Joel. For a freshman to shoot 5-under the first day and carry the team, and then to come back in the second round with a 68 is really great for him," Thurmond said. "He birdied his last hole, and the last hole is the most difficult hole on the course, so making a birdie to finish his day was huge."
Prugh, who had Washington's best round of the day with his 66, catapulted from 74th into a tie for 23rd after Friday's 18 holes of play and is 6-under 138 overall. Prugh knocked in six birdies, two bogies and eagled the par-5 17th hole.
"The first five holes are really pretty easy holes so you want to get off to a good start, but Alex was feeling like he had a pretty slow start," Thurmond said. "He played the middle holes really well and then made that eagle on 17 and 17 is the most difficult of the par five's. He had the kind of day we know he can have."
Prugh wasn't the only Husky to sink an eagle. Killmer eagled the par-4 second hole to go along with four birdies in his round. Killmer is tied for 42nd at 4-under 140.
"Chris had a phenomenal start, he birdied the first hole and eagled the second so he was going from the very beginning and kept playing well the rest of the day," Thurmond said.
Rounding out Washington's lineup were Bixler who is tied for 61st at 2-under 142, and Olson who is tied for 112th at 5-over 149.
Arizona State's Benjamin Alvarado and USC's Jamie Lovemark lead the field at 12-under 132. Lovemark shot the low round of the tournament with a 9-under 63 on Friday.
The 2007 NCAA West Regional wraps up with the final 18 holes on Saturday. The Huskies will tee off at 6:48 a.m. PT. The top-10 teams will advance to play in the NCAA Championships to be held in Williamsburg, Va., May 30-June 2. The top two individuals not on an advancing team will also earn a spot in the national tournament.
2007 NCAA WEST REGIONAL
Tempe, Ariz.
Karsten Golf Course
Host: Arizona State University
Par 72, 7057 yards
Team Leaderboard - Second Round1. UCLA 268-273-541, -35 2. South Carolina 273-269-542, -34 3. USC 277-273-550, -26 3. Arizona State 275-275-550, -26 5. Washington 284-271-555, -21 5. East Tennessee State 278-277-555, -21 7. Oregon State 281-275-556, -20 8. Arizona 282-275-557, -19 8. Stanford 277-280-557, -19 8. New Mexico 275-282-557, -19 11. Vanderbilt 283-276-559, -17 12. California 280-282-564, -14 12. UNLV 281-281-562, -14 12. Pepperdine 277-285-562, -14 12. Wake Forest 285-277-562, -14 16. BYU 283-280-563, -13 17. Colorado State 284-284-568, -8 18. Augusta State 284-285-569, -7 19. Oregon 292-281-573, -3 20. Denver 285-290-575, -1 20. Nevada 289-286-575, -1 22. UC Irvine 289-288-577, +1 23. Penn 288-293-581, +5 24. San Diego State 296-289-585, +9 25. Detroit 297-297-594, +18 26. Monmouth 302-295-597, +21 27. Bucknell 299-299-598, +22
Individual Leaderboard - Second Round 1. Benjamin Alvarado, ASU 67-65-132, -12 1. Jamie Lovemark, USC 69-63-132, -12 3. Charlie Beljan, New Mexico 65-68-133, -11 3. Erik Flores, UCLA 64-69-133, -11 5. James Allenby, Oregon State 66-68-134, -10 5. Kevin Chappell, UCLA 66-68-134, -10 7. Knut Borsheim, ASU 69-66-135, -9 7. George Bryan, South Carolina 68-67-135, -9 7. Joel Dahmen, Washington 67-68-135, -9 7. Florian Fritsch, South Carolina 68-67-135, -9 7. Seamus Power, East Tennessee St. 69-66-135, -9
Washington Results - Second Round T7. Joel Dahmen 67-68-135, -9 T23. Alex Prugh 72-66-138, -6 T42. Chris Killmer 73-67-140, -4 T61. Zach Bixler 72-70-142, -2 T112. Erik Olson 79-70-149, +5
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