May 15, 2008

Results

Bremerton, WA - The Saint Mary's men's golf team got off to a good start in the 2008 NCAA West Regional following a 6-over par round of 294. At the par-72, 7,111-yard Gold Mountain Golf Club, SMC used even par rounds of 72 by Mike McRae and Chadd Cocco to get off to a good start in the school's second ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Following the completion of the first round, the Gaels are in sole possession of sixth place after 18 holes of play. Oregon shot the low round of the day at 289 (+1), so SMC will enter the second round five shots back. USC, UCLA and Washington are tied for second at 291 (+3), and Pepperdine is fifth at 292 (+4).

Mike McRae, who is playing in his third NCAA Tournament, played in his seventh post-season round. He was a freshman on the 2004-05 team that made the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance, and then again as an individual in 2007. The senior opened the day by dropping a 25-foot birdie on the 460-yard opening hole. After two bogeys, McRae posted his second birdie of the day on the par-4 362-yard fourth. A par followed on five, and a birdie on six had McRae in red figures again. He followed his third birdie of the front nine with a bogey on seven to drop back to even par.

McRae made the turn at even par and then made a birdie four on the par-5 11th hole. In the next stretch of six holes, he made four pars and two bogeys to head into the final hole at 1-over par. His approach shot from 135 yards out left him with a six-footer for birdie. He converted the putt to finish at even par for the round.

Cocco's round was just the opposite of McRae's, as he made a birdie, six pars and two bogeys on the opening nine. After making a birdie on the opening hole, Cocco had back-to-back bogeys on two and three to move to 1-over for the round. After a string of six pars, he made the turn with a 37 on the opening nine.

On his second nine holes, Cocco would make four birdies, three bogeys and two pars. He got back to red figures quickly with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. He would give those shots back to the course on 12 and 13, before making a birdie four on the par-5 14th hole. A bogey on the par-4 15th hole put Cocco at 1-over heading into the final three holes. Cocco's aggressive play on the par-4 18th paid off, as he two putted for a birdie on the 324-yard finishing hole.

A pair of sophomores turned in the third and fourth best rounds for the Gaels on Thursday, as Robert McRae and Daniel Cone shot rounds of 75 (+3) in their first NCAA Tournament appearance. McRae carded three birdies, 10 pars, four bogeys and one double bogey. McRae played the first five holes at 1-under par with a chip-in birdie three on the 481-yard third hole. He bogeyed the sixth, eighth and ninth to make the turn at 2-over par. A birdie on the par-four 10th got him to 1-over, and after pars on 11 and 12, he dropped a stroke on the par-4 13th. He had three straight pars on 14, 15, and 16, but a double bogey on 17 dropped him to 4-over. He closed the round with a birdie three on the final hole to close out his round.

Cone played solid around the greens, but struggled to hit greens most of the day. Cone made just one birdie on the day, that coming on the 563-yard par-5 sixth hole. His four bogeys came on four, nine, 12 and 16 and he had 13 pars with most coming on one-putts. Cone's front nine consisted of one birdie, six pars and two bogeys, while his back nine was seven pars and two birdies.

Josh Kelley rounded out the Gaels' scoring with a 4-over par 76 on Thursday. Kelley struggled on his fourth career NCAA Tournament round, as he was 3-over par through the first seven holes. Kelley's first birdie came on the 202-yard par-3 eighth hole when he dropped in a 12-footer for birdie. He followed the birdie with three straight pars, but dropped to 4-over with bogeys on the 12th and 13th. He erased those two bogeys with birdies on the par-5 14th and par-4 15th holes to get to two-over par with three holes to play. Pars on 16 and 18 sandwiched a double bogey on 17 for the senior.

Saint Mary's will begin its second round of the NCAA West Regional at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. The Gaels will tee-off on the 378-yard par-4 10th hole on Friday.