Rain softens Karsten Creek’s bite on Friday
STILLWATER — Friday’s thunderstorms messed up the scheduling of the NCAA men’s golf championships, but seemed to help the players.
Expected to be a stiff challenge for golfers this week, Oklahoma State’s Karsten Creek Golf Club was tamed by the weather on Friday. The rain softened the greens, aiding approach shots and putting. And after the storms moved through, the wind died down as well.
Two players — UNLV’s Shintaro Ban and Northwestern’s Ryan Lumsden
— finished their rounds at 5-under-par 67. Two others — Texas Tech’s Ivan Ramirez and Clemson’s Bryson Nimmer — were at 5 under when the round was stopped because of darkness.
Four more players were at 4 under par.
“The practice round (Thursday) was my first time to see this course.
I had heard some stories — heard some horror stories,” said Kent State’s Chase Johnson, who was tied for fifth after shooting a 4-under-par 68.
“It was nice to see a good golf course out here. You just had to hit the fairways, hit the greens and give yourself chances.” senior Fredrik Nilehn, had to be replaced by freshman Kyle Hogan in the Red Raiders’ five-man lineup because of a back injury.
Because of the new rule, several teams brought six players to the event this week. Eleven teams took advantage of the rule during regional play, according to GolfWeek.
Though they were barely able to get their team through the front nine on Friday because of rain delays and darkness, the Red Raiders made a strong charge toward the top of the leaderboard, sitting in third place when play concluded.
BYU finishes third round, starts first round Friday
The BYU men’s golf team played more golf than any other team Friday.
Because of university rules that prohibit participating in athletic events on Sunday, the Cougars had to begin their third round Thursday night.
The weather had other plans, though.
Rain and storms washed out their Thursday round, but the Cougars were able to make the turn before dark. They were scheduled to resume their third round at 6:30 a.m., but a weather delay postponed Friday’s start until 9:20 a.m.
BYU shot 24-over for its third round, which is 14 more shots than Augusta had on Friday — the highest score of the first round. The Cougars didn’t finish their first round because they teed off at 5:48 p.m.
BYU will resume its first round Saturday morning along with 14 other teams.
The score of 24 over is tied for the second-highest round the Cougars have shot this season.
By the numbers
17: Number of eagles made in the first round. Eleven were made on the opening hole, a 542-yard par 5.
4.64: Stroke average on Friday’s hardest hole, the par-4 10th. Players made 45 bogeys and 20 double bogeys while hitting only nine birdies.
8 under: Northwestern’s team total after the first day. Although not all first rounds are complete, the Wildcats posted the low mark heading into Saturday.