Utley Leads Men's Golf On First Day Of NCAA East Regional
05/18/2006 | Men's Golf
May 18, 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Richmond men's golf team is in 22nd place out of 27 teams after the first round of the 2006 NCAA East Regional played Thursday at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club.
The Spiders finished the first round at 21-over-par 309 on the par 72, 7,175-yard Lake Nona Golf Course, ranked among the top-100 courses in the world. Richmond is two strokes behind George Washington (+19) and four strokes behind Maryland (+17). The Spiders are one stroke ahead of Tennessee (+22). Richmond begins teeing off for the second round at 12:59 p.m. on Friday.
"We obviously had a tough first round, we didn't finish well," Richmond head coach Adam Decker said. "The guys are going to try to regroup Friday and shoot their way back into it. They need to set-up themselves for the third round."
Richmond sophomore Jordan Utley led the Spiders with a 2-over-par 74 and is tied for 39th. He shot a 2-over 38 on the front nine and an even-par 36 on the back nine. Utley had 14 pars, one birdie and three bogeys on the day.
Sophomore Chris Bagley shot a 5-over par 77, carding an even-par 36 on the front nine and a 5-over 41 on the back, putting him in a tie for 80th out of 140 golfers. Bagley had two birdies and 12 pars, but was hurt by two double bogeys.
Richmond had three players finish the day at 7-over-par 79 in a tie for 109th. Despite 12 pars, senior Tyler Randol shot a 1-over 37 on the front nine and a 42 on the back nine. Junior John Pelet was 5-over on the front nine and shot a 2-over 38 on the back nine. Freshman Tim Courtney had three birdies, but was hindered by three double bogeys. Courtney shot a 2-over 38 on the front and a 5-over 41 on the back nine.
The NCAA East Regional is one of three regionals being held this weekend - along with the Central and West. The top 10 teams in each regional, and the top two individuals not on advancing teams, earn bids to the 2006 NCAA National Championship to be held in Sunriver, Ore., May 31-June 3.
This is Richmond's first NCAA Championship appearance since 2001 and the Spiders fourth in school history. In 1999, Richmond finished eighth at the East Regional to qualify for the school's only NCAA National appearance.