Florida Gators
NCAA Central Regional
M. Golf Finishes Third At NCAA Central Regional, Advances to NCAA Championship
Saturday, May 22, 2010 | Men's Golf
For the 10th-straight year, the University of Florida men's golf team qualified for the NCAA Championship after posting a third place finish at the NCAA Central Regional. The squad carded a tournament score of 838 (-2) after posting a one-under 279 in Saturday's final round.
The Gators have advanced to the NCAA Championship in 22 of head coach Buddy Alexander's 23 years in Gainesville. The squad is joined by first place Stanford, runner-up FSU and Duke and LSU, who finished in fourth and fifth place respectively.
“To finish in third wasn't exactly what we wanted but we live to see another day,” said Alexander. “By far the biggest and best thing was that we were able to finish off the second round as we did. It gave us a cushion going into the final round that we didn't have last night. That was a big part of our success today. It was an interesting week of ebbs and flows but I think we played solid for the most part. We are happy to be advancing to the next round.”
All but three of the 14 teams competing in South Bend were forced to conclude their second round on Saturday morning after inclement weather suspended play on Friday evening. Florida finished their second round with an even-par 280.
Freshman Phillip Choi (Orlando, Fla.), making his NCAA post-season debut, posted the highest finish among UF golfers, finishing in a tie for 11th. Choi had five holes to play in his second round and finished with a two-under 68. He began his third by making a bogey on his third hole but was able to birdie seven and make a bogey on eight to enter the turn at one-over. He remained there until his final hole, where he carded a bogey on 18 to finish at two-over. He concluded the regional with a total score of 209 (69-68-72, -1).
One stroke shy of Choi was senior Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Arizona), who finished in a tie for 19th with an even-par 210 (72-70-68). McKenney saved his best for last as he improved his score with each round. He finished his second round with an even-par 70. In his final round, McKenney had a strong start. He made a birdie on hole three before carding an eagle on the par-five fifth hole. A birdie on six and bogey on seven put him at three-under heading into the back nine. McKenney went to card three-straight bogeys on 11, 12 and 13 to return to even par. The senior was able to finish strong, making back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17.
Joining McKenney with the low UF round on day three was fellow senior Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.), who also carded a two-under 68 in his final round. Alexander rebounded after finishing the second round with his highest score of the weekend, a three-over 73. In his last round, Alexander carded back-to-back birdies on five and six before making a bogey on nine to enter the turn at one-under. He followed a birdie on 10 with a bogey on 11 but was able to conclude his final round with a birdie on 17. His tournament score of 211 (70-73-68, +1) place him in a tie for 22nd.
Junior Bank Vongvanij (Bradenton, Fla.) and redshirt junior Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) rounded out UF's lineup in a tie for 32nd with a total score of 214 (+4). Vongvanij finished with a 74 (+4) in his second round before carding a two-over 72 in his final 18 holes. Echavarria posted his lowest score in his second round with a one-under 69 and concluded the regional with a one-over 71.
The Gators will compete at the 2010 NCAA Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn. on June 2-5. Live scoring and official results will be available at www.GatorZone.com or www.golfstat.com.
Team Scores After Round 3
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Stanford | 277-279-274=830 (-10) |
| 2 | FSU | 283-276-275=834 (-6) |
| 3 | FLORIDA | 279 -280-279=838 (-2) |
| 4 | Duke | 292-277-270=839 (-1) |
| 5 | LSU | 280-289-278=847 (+7) |
| T6 | Northwestern | 284-279-285=848 (+8) |
| T6 | Michigan | 285-281-282=848 (+8) |
| T6 | Iowa | 288-279-281=848 (+8) |
| 9 | Indiana | 285-286-279=850 (+10) |
| 10 | Virginia Tech | 284-288-283=855 (+15) |
| 11 | N.C. State | 289-283-287=859 (+19) |
| 12 | Detroit Mercy | 297-299-285=881 (+31) |
| 13 | Murray State | 297-295-287=879 (+39) |
| 14 | St. Francis-Pennsylvania | 319-304-287=910 (+70) |
Individual Scores After Round 3
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Drew Kittleson (FSU) | 69-67-68=204 (-6) |
| T2 | Wesley Graham (FSU) | 67-68-70=205 (-5) |
| T2 | Adam Long (Duke) | 70-70-65=205 (-5) |
| 4 | David Chung (Stanford) | 67-70-69=206 (-4) |
| 5 | Steve Ziegler (Stanford) | 71-67-69=207 (-3) |
| T6 | Marshall Bailey (Virginia Tech) | 72-70-66=208 (-2) |
| T6 | Shiwan Kim (Stanford) | 69-69-70=208 (-2) |
| T6 | Andrew Loupe (LSU) | 70-70-68=208 (-2) |
| T6 | Matt Thompson (Michigan) | 71-65-72=208 (-2) |
| T6 | Brinson Paolini (Duke) | 73-70-65=208 (-2) |
Florida Scores After Round 3
| Place | Team | Score |
| T11 | Phillip Choi | 69-68-72=209 (-1) |
| T19 | Tim McKenney | 72-70-68=210 (E) |
| T22 | Tyson Alexander | 70-73-68=211 (+1) |
| T32 | Bank Vongvanij | 68-74-72=214 (+4) |
| T32 | Andres Echavarria | 74-69-71=214 (+4) |
-UF-
