The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
NCAA Championships
Blazers Struggle During NCAA Second Round
5/30/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 30, 2012
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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - The UAB men's golf team struggled during the second round of the 2012 NCAA Men's Golf Championships on Wednesday as it recorded a 19-over par 303. As a result, the Blazers will enter Thursday's final round in 26th overall in the 30-team field with a 36-hole total of 600 (297-303).
"Obviously, we are disappointed," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "This is a great golf course and whatever deficiencies you have in your game, sooner or later it is going to bring those out.
"We didn't hit the ball very well," Kaufman continued. "I don't care what kind of short game you may have, if you don't hit the fairways and greens out here, it's going to catch up to you."
UAB is all but out of contention for a top eight finish, which would guarantee a spot in match play, which begins on Friday morning.
Freshman Paul Dunne (75-74) and sophomore Sam Love (74-75) lead the Blazers through the opening two rounds, with both players in a tie for 68th with a 149.
Sophomores Thomas Sutton (79-74) and Wilson McDonald (73-80) are at 153 and in a tie for 117th, while junior Hunter Hawkins rounds out the Blazers with a 155 (75-80).
The shot of the day for UAB came on the 199-yard par 3 sixth hole, as Sutton came approximately two feet shy of becoming the first Blazer to hit a hole-in-one in several years. He easily sank the putt for one of his two birdies on the day.
The Blazers began the second round on fire as the team combined to go three-under par on their the first hole and looked as if they were going to make a move up the leaderboard. However, UAB would only muster a combined three more birdies for the rest of the round.
Alabama (572), ranked No. 2 in the nation, continues to set the pace with a four-stroke lead over No. 5-ranked UCLA (576). Florida State (580), ranked 19th in the nation, is third, followed by No. 28 Oklahoma (581) and No. 11 North Florida (581).
The Blazers will begin the third round in the morning wave of teams at a tee time yet to be determined. Kaufman says his team just needs to concentrate on going out there and playing to the best of their ability.
"We have one more day," Kaufman said. "We are going to go out there and do the best we can. Hopefully we can move up four or five positions. It's a thrill to be here and hopefully we will play good tomorrow."
Thursday's final round, along with the final three days of match play, will be broadcast live on the internet, by logging onto NCAA.com.
