Corey Nagy Shot -2, 70 in round two. |
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Charlotte Shoots +7 in Round Two; Stays in the Hunt at NCAA Finals
May 29, 2008
West Lafayette, Ind. - Sophomore Corey Nagy sliced 10 strokes off of his opening round score to post a two-under par 70 in round two of the NCAA Div. I Men's Golf Championships at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex - Kampen Course and keep the 49ers in the hunt for the national title.
Charlotte carded a second round team total of +7 to give them a two-day total of +25. They walked off the course tied for 16th with the afternoon wave of teams just getting underway. Only seven teams from the morning wave finished in front of the 49ers.
Junior Stefan Wiedergruen shot his second straight two-over par 74 and senior Trevor Murphy added a +2, 74, as well. Senior Jonas Enander Hedin rebounded from a slow start to finish at +5, 77. Senior Andrew DiBitetto shot a +8, 80.
"Corey's was a terrific round of golf," said head coach Jamie Green. "He made some adjustments from the tee to give himself scoring opportunities. He didn't put himself in position where he had to hit perfect shots. He gave himself better opportunities, today."
"It was not that much different than yesterday," said Nagy, who was hampered by a pair of triple bogeys in the first round but otherwise played well, that day, too. "This is a course that can give and take and today it gave more. I hit more fairways and I gave myself a chance. I stayed patient and when I could attack I attacked, but I tried to have fun and I didn't get ahead of myself."
While Nagy was posting the 49ers first under par round of the tourney, the rest of the team was doing an impressive job of saving pars.
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Murphy had an incredible up and down on the par 3, 2nd (his 11th hole of the round). His tee shot drifted right of the green, into the deep rough and with the pin partially blocked by a large tree. Murphy slid his chip just past the tree trunk and ran it to within four feet of the cup. He made the par putt. Wiedergruen sank a 30-foot putt on hole #15 to save par after laying up when his tee shot found the rough. Enander Hedin sank a 45-foot par putt on the par five 4th (his 13th hole of the round) and added a nice up and down on the par 3 5th. Nagy added his own up and down on the 5th as well, after leaving his drive short and in the deep rough. He managed to chip up to within three feet for the par save.
"Some of those spectacular pars -- that's going to be the key to the round -- this course does not have a lot of birdies. It takes a lot of creativity and imagination, and that's what they are doing," Green said. "For it to be a competitive round of golf, there had to be some par saves and that's what they did well."
Case in point, Wiedergruen's round. The junior is one of the most accurate drivers in the country yet he hit only four fairways. Still he managed to finish just two-over par thanks to some creative layups, nice up and downs and some good putts.
"I struggled a little off the tee but made some good up and downs," said Wiedergruen.
"Stefan's been pretty consistent the first two rounds," Green said. "He would have like to have had more looks for birdie and not have had to scramble, but I'm proud of him for doing it. It's a testament to his determination to get the ball up and down and make some par-saving putts."
Murphy played strong throughout his round, posting four bogeys and two birdies for a +2, 74.
"I actually hit the ball well off the tee today," said Murphy. "I was much better off the tee. If you're not in the fairway you're not in control and you don't have the opportunities to make birdies. I had more of those opportunities today and I hit a lot of good putts that didn't go in. It was a pretty solid round."
Which describes the team's round fairly well, also.
"There were a lot of good par saves and a lot of scrambling pars and down the stretch we made some birdies. That's what we needed to do," Green noted. "You've got to tell yourself, what's the easiest shot to give yourself a chance. And it starts with the very first shot out there because you have to be in the fairway. All five (players) are in the game on every hole and that's the way it needs to be. They will all be competitive right to the 18th."
When the morning wave finished, Clemson was the leader in the clubhouse at +13, following an even-par round. Charlotte was 12 strokes back and still within striking distance given the upheaval possible on the course. In addition, the 49ers were creeping up the leaderboard as the afternoon wave continued.
