The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
NCAA Stanford Regional
UAB Has Solid First Round At 2012 NCAA Regional
5/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 17, 2012
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PALO ALTO, Calif. - Behind the steady play of sophomore Thomas Sutton, the UAB men's golf team finished the opening round of the 2012 NCAA Stanford Regional in a three-way tie for fourth place overall with a two-under par 278. Thursday's 18-hole score matched the second-lowest round of the season for the Blazers.
"I am pleased with how we played today," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "We had a great start to the round and all five players were consistent throughout. We had a couple of unfortunate mistakes during our back nine, but I think we are in a good position entering the second round."
UAB, ranked No. 35 in the nation entering the event, got off to a blazing start and was as low as five-under at one point early in the day. The Blazers never dropped below fifth throughout the opening 18 holes.
Much of that was due to the play of Sutton, a redshirt sophomore, who finished his round with a two-under par 68. The Montgomery, Ala. native had only two bogeys during his round, compared to four birdies. He could have easily had an eagle on the seventh hole, but his chip from 10 yards in front of the green just missed dropping in the hole by inches, forcing him to settle for a birdie.
Sutton will enter the second round in a tie for seventh overall, two strokes back of the individual leaders.
Freshman Paul Dunne and junior Hunter Hawkins are in a tie for 17th overall on the par 70, 6,747-yard Stanford Golf Course, with a one-under par 69.
Dunne was part of the reason why the Blazers got off to such a hot start, recording four birdies and no bogeys through his first 11 holes, briefly holding a share of the overall lead. However, the true freshman from Dublin, Ireland ended the day with three bogeys over his final eight holes to result in his opening round score.
Meanwhile, Hawkins had another solid day for the Green and Gold, matching his best 18-hole mark of the spring season. The junior from Fort Payne, Ala. did not have a single blemish on his scorecard, recording par on every hole except for his birdie on the 521-yard par 5 first hole.
Senior Jason Shufflebotham finished the afternoon with a two-over par 72, while sophomore Sam Love rounded out the Blazers with a three-over 73.
UAB is tied for fourth place with fellow Conference USA school UCF and Wichita State. The entire field is chasing first round surprise leaders San Francisco, which carded a team score of seven-under par 273. The unranked Dons, who entered the event as the No. 11 overall seed, lead No. 2 California (276) by three strokes and No. 8 Stanford (277) by four strokes coming into Friday's second round.
The top five teams from the Regional will advance to NCAA Nationals, which will be held May 29-June 3 at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The Blazers will tee off Friday's second at 8:20 a.m. PT (10:20 a.m. CT) from hole No. 10.
