Thursday, May 16
Tempe, Ariz.
10:00:00 AM
Lehigh University
at
NCAA Regionals
Abrams, Kim pace Lehigh on day one of NCAA Tempe Regional
5/16/2013 6:01:00 PM | Men's Golf
NCAA First Round Results
TEMPE, Ariz. – In its first appearance in the NCAA Regional, the Lehigh men's golf team held things together through the front nine, but the Mountain Hawks ran into collective trouble on the back nine to shoot 301 in round one Thursday at the ASU Karsten Golf Course. Battling 100-degree heat and desert conditions, the Mountain Hawks are 14th out of 14 teams in the field after 18 holes in the Regional.
TEMPE, Ariz. – In its first appearance in the NCAA Regional, the Lehigh men's golf team held things together through the front nine, but the Mountain Hawks ran into collective trouble on the back nine to shoot 301 in round one Thursday at the ASU Karsten Golf Course. Battling 100-degree heat and desert conditions, the Mountain Hawks are 14th out of 14 teams in the field after 18 holes in the Regional.
The five Lehigh players totaled seven birdies on the day, but bogeyed 27 holes and scored worse on five others. Mountain Hawk golfers played the ninth hole at six over par, while the closing four holes were also problematic. Lehigh's' quintet combined to go 15 over par on holes 15 through 18.
The Mountain Hawks were led by freshman Harley Abrams and sophomore Carlos Kim. Abrams shot one over par 71 to lead Lehigh on day one. With birdies on the fifth and seventh holes and a bogey on nine, Abrams was one under at the turn, but back-to-back bogies on 13 and 14 put him over par for the round. Abrams is tied for 28th in the 75 player field.
Kim came in to the regional as the only Lehigh player with previous experience at the ASU Karsten Golf Course. He carded a 73 on day one to tie for 45th place. Kim made birdie on the second and 16th holes but also made five bogies, including one on the finishing hole.
Senior Sean Keller carded Lehigh's third lowest score with a seven over 77 out of the No. 5 position. Keller was three over at the turn, but made five bogeys and just one birdie on the back side to tie for 67th.
The back nine, especially the final four holes, were especially tough for juniors Alex DiClemente and Andrew Arnold. DiClemente went out with a respectable 36 on the front side, including a birdie on the fourth, but shot 44 on the back side to finish with an 80. He was just three over through 15 but finished with three straight bogeys and then a quadruple bogey on the final hole. Arnold shot 82 on Thursday, with a 40 on the front and a 42 on the back side. He made his lone birdie of the day on 15, but finished with double bogeys on 16 and 18 sandwiched around a bogey at 17.
As a team Lehigh is 21 over par after round one, nine strokes behind Arizona for 13th place. Top seed and third-ranked UCLA shot 12 under par 268 to take a ten shot lead over No. 2 seed and ninth-ranked Duke. Austin Peay State is third at -1, while five schools are tied for fourth at even par.
Individually, Dustin Korte of Austin Peay State and Pontus Widegren of UCLA carded rounds of 64 to share the 18-hole lead at six under par. Greg Eason of UCF shot 65 and is one stroke behind.
The NCAA Tempe Regional continues Friday with the second round from the ASU Karsten Golf Course. Lehigh's golfers will go off from the tenth tee beginning at 8:50 a.m. (PT).
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Sunday, March 23
