DANIELS, W.Va. -- Arkansas Tech reached its third-straight NCAA Division II men's golf quarterfinal after finishing Wednesday with a 5-over 293 to fall to sixth at the national championship tournament at The Resort at Glade Springs.
The scores on Arkansas Tech's team card has progressively increased since its even-par 288 on Monday, but the No. 25 Wonder Boys remained in contention as one of the top eight teams with a three-day card of 6-over 870.
No. 1 Barry turned in another impressive card with an 8-under 280 to lead the field with an 18-under 846 with No. 2 Lynn shooting a 4-under 284 to hold at second with a three-day score of 11-under 853. No. 3 West Florida shot an even 288 for a 2-under 862 to hold at third while No. 4 Florida Southern shot a 4-under 284 of its own to climb from eighth to fourth with a 2-over 866. No. 42 Trevecca Nazarene sits fifth with a 5-over 869, No. 16 Cal State Monterey Bay is seventh with a 9-over 873 and No. 5 Lincoln Memorial rounded out the teams advancing to today's match play with a 10-over 874.
No. 63 Michael VanDerLaan of Florida Southern shot a 6-under 66 Wednesday to earn medalist honors after entering the final round of stroke play at sixth. He turned in a three-day card of 9-under 207 while No. 1 Jorge Garcia of Barry improved to second with a final score of 7-under 209.
Arkansas Tech redshirt junior Austin Gean finished in a five-way tie for sixth with fellow Great American Conference member No. 3 Zach James of Southeastern Oklahoma State, who shot up from 16th. Gean shot an even-par 72 Wednesday to remain in sixth with a three-day card 0f 3-under 213. Gean birdied two on the front nine with one bogey for a 1-under 35, but he bogeyed three against two birdies on the back nine for a 1-over 37.
Junior Wonder Boy Shawn Tsai struggled on the front nine, but he held on to hit a 1-over 73 on the day to finish at 2-under 214 in a five-way tie for 11th. Tsai bogeyed four holes on the front nine for a 4-over 40, but he balanced out with four birdies on the back nine against a fifth bogey on the day for a 3-under 33.
No. 130 freshman Andre Jacobs had a day of highs and lows as he turned in a 2-over 74 to finish in a tie for 50th with a 5-over 221. He balanced his double-bogey and bogey on 3 and 6 with an eagle on 5 and birdie on 8 for an even-par 36, but two bogeys and a double-bogey on the back nine against two birdies left him with a 2-over 38.
Twin Francois Jacobs shot a 2-over 74 to finish the stroke play portion of the tournament with a 6-over 222 to remain in a five-way tie for 52nd. He finished the front nine with three bogeys and two birdies for a 1-over 37 before a similar outcome on the back nine for a 1-over 37.
Redshirt sophomore Kellen Gray turned in an 8-over 230 to drop into a six-way tie for 83rd with a three-day total of 14-over 230. Gray shot five bogeys on the front nine for a 5-over 41, and despite a birdie on 12, a pair of double-bogeys on 13 and 16 left him at 3-over 39 on the back.
The Wonder Boys advance to today's match-play quarterfinal, where they are paired against West Florida starting on Hole 10. Francois Jacobs will tee off at 8:20 a.m. against Carlos Marrero with the rest of the two teams teeing off every 10 minutes with Andre Jacobs facing Juan de Giacomi, Tsai taking on Harry Butler, Gray opposing Christian Bosso and Gean playing against Jacob Huizinga.
The winner of the match-up will advance to this afternoon's semifinal against the winner of Lynn and Cal State Monterey Bay. The pairs will tee off each 10 minutes starting on Hole 1 at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
With a match-play system, the players play against their paired partner with the winning team taking the advantage out of five matches. The matches are scored by the cumulative number of strokes won, with the player holding the most strokes after 18 holes winning the match.
Barry will take on Lincoln Memorial with the pairings teeing off each 10 minutes starting at 7:30 a.m. EDT on Hole 1. Lynn and Cal State Monterey Bay are paired for the quarterfinal with a 7:30 a.m. EDT tee time on Hole 10. The winner of the Barry/Lincoln Memorial pairing will face the winner of the Lynn/Cal State Monterey Bay pairing at 1:40 p.m. EDT with duos teeing off on Hole 1 each 10 minutes.
The finals will be played on Friday starting at 9 a.m. EDT.
Sports on 05/23/2019