The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
NCAA Bremerton Regional
UAB Second Through Two Rounds At NCAA Regionals
5/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Round Two Results | Round Three Tee Times
BREMERTON, Wash. -- Three players shot under par for the second-straight round to put the UAB men's golf team in second place in the NCAA Bremerton Regional at Gold Mountain Golf Club on Friday. The Blazers have totaled a 565 (-11) through 36 holes and are one stroke behind leader TCU (-12) with one round to play.
"Pleased again with how the guys played today," head coach Alan Murray said. "It was a bit of a strange round, it looked like we were a little bit off. I thought the guys showed how mature they are has golfers. Everyone was very patient and had great attitudes throughout the day."
UAB shot a 285 (-3) in the second round as the team dropped a spot on the leaderboard after TCU finished with a 283 (-5) to move into first place at 12-under. The Blazers trail the Horned Frogs by one stroke and have a four-stroke lead over third-place Southern California (-7). Three other teams are under par heading into the final round, South Carolina (-5), Baylor (-3) and Iowa State (-2).
After getting off to a slow start through the front nine, UAB picked up its play on the second half of the course. The team battled with TCU for the top spot most of the day, but three birdies on the 18th gave the advantage to TCU.
Freshman Lee Hodges continued his strong play for the Blazers with another 70 (-2) on Friday. A double bogey on the ninth hole put Hodges one-over, but he recovered with three-straight birdies on 13, 14 and 15 along with six pars to finish 2-under. He is tied for 10th individually with a 140 (-4).
Senior Paul Dunne was steady throughout the round with three birdies, 13 pars and just two bogeys to finish with a 71 (-1). Dunne is tied for second with a 138 (-6) through the first two rounds. He is tied with four other players, all two strokes behind individual leader Cheng-Tsung Pan of Washington.
"Paul (Dunne) played well, 1-under was superb," Murray remarked. "Lee Hodges played well again, even though he made a bogey and double to finish out his front nine, he came back and had a good back nine."
Also finishing under par in the second round was freshman Taylor Eyster, who had a great comeback after a tough first round. Eyster carded a 71 (-1) with four birdies on the day. He was one-over with five holes to play, but hit birdies on 14 and 17 to get to one-under. He is 8-over through two and tied for 61st.
"Taylor Eyster, as a freshman, after struggling yesterday, it would have been very easy to let his chin drop, but he dug deep and finished well today," Murray stated.
Junior Will Cannon also improved from yesterday with a 73 (+1) on Friday. Cannon had two birdies, including one on the 18th hole to close out the round. He is tied for 36th with a 148 (+4). Although his score didn't count for the round, fellow junior Martin Rohwer shot a solid 75 (+3). He is tied for 17th with a 143 (-1).
"Will (Cannon) shot 1-over and made birdie on his last hole, which was important for us," Murray added. "Martin struggled today, but I was impressed with his attitude through it."
UAB will be back on the course tomorrow for the final round of the regional. The Blazers are looking to qualify for the NCAA Nationals, as the top five teams from each of the six regionals advance to Bradenton, Fla.
"I am encouraged going into the final round tomorrow," Murray said. "We are a shot back and the goal coming here was to try to win the tournament. We have a great chance at that going into the final round, which is where you want to be. Anything can happen in the final round, especially at regionals, so I feel like we are in a good place."
Eyster will tee off first at 8:45 a.m. PT, followed by Cannon at 8:56 a.m., Rohwer at 9:07 a.m., Hodges at 9:18 a.m. and Dunne at 9:29 a.m. Live scoring will be available on Golfstat.com.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account:@UABathletics. For men's golf news, follow @UAB_MensGolf
