University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Golf In Ninth; Four Strokes Out Of Third Place At Rain-Soaked Rutherford
04/22/2006 | Men's Golf
April 22, 2006
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Richmond men's golf team sat in ninth place, just four strokes out of third after the first round of the Rutherford Intercollegiate on Saturday at Penn State's par-72, 6,859-yard Blue Course.
"It poured all morning, they probably got over an inch of rain and the temperature was just in the high 40s," Richmond head coach Adam Decker said. "They never stopped play, but they had to squeegee the greens, there were tough conditions. We got off to a slow start, but we're looking to rebound in the second and final round."
The second round was stopped at about 3:45 p.m. Saturday afternoon due to weather. Play resumed after a long delay, but the players were called off the course due to darkness at 7:20 p.m. The second round will be completed first thing Sunday morning with results available here at RichmondSpiders.com. The third and final round will be played following the completion of the second round.
The Spiders scored a 27-over-par 315 in the opening round played during a steady rainfall. Richmond was one stroke behind Akron, James Madison and George Washington, who were tied for sixth at 314. Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason finished the first round tied for fourth at 313 and Bowling Green was in second at 311. Miami (OH) had the lead after the first round at 297, the only school in the 15-team field to break 300. Eastern Michigan was in second at 12-over 300.
Richmond sophomore Jordan Utley was tied for 14th through the completion of the first round, after shooting a 5-over 77. Freshman Tim Courtney and Tyler Randol were tied for 31st at 79, while sophomore Chris Bagley was tied for 42nd at 80. Sophomore Billy Hanes shot an 85 and was tied for 73rd.
Richmond, which is ranked second in Golfweek's Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings, is playing in its second to last tournament of the year with its eye on its first NCAA Regional appearance since 2001. This is the Spiders' last tune-up before the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship, to be held May 5-7 at Orange County National in Orlando, Fla.