June 1, 2006
SUNRIVER, Ore. - The 20th-ranked Auburn men's golf team shot a 293 for a 588 total and is tied for 23rd with South Carolina after the NCAA Championship second round at the soggy par-72, 7630-yard Crosswater Course at Sunriver Resort Thursday. The Tigers are only five shots off the 15-team cutline that will be made following Friday's third round but need to jump nine teams.
Freshman Glenn Northcutt carded an even par 72 and is tied for 63rd at 2-over 146. The Dothan, Ala., native recorded four birdies, closing with ones at No. 14 and on the most difficult hole on the course at the par-3, 232-yard 17th. He also made birdies on Nos. 2 and 8, but had a double bogey on No. 5 and three-putted from 12-feet on the par-5 sixth hole for bogey to go along with one more bogey on the 10th.
Junior Andrew Medley had a 74 and is tied for 80th at 3-over 147. The Athens, Ala., native had three birdies on his round, including two on the front nine in which he made the turn at 1-under. A double bogey on the 12th and a bogey on No. 13 sidetracked him before a birdie on the 15th followed by a bogey on No. 18.
Sophomore Jay Moseley rebounded from a first round 75 to post an even par 72 that featured birdies on two of his last three holes. Moseley, who is tied for 107th at 5-over 149, made the turn at 2-over par following three bogeys and a birdie. The Bainbridge, Ga., native played the back nine at 2-under par with three birdies and a single bogey.
Senior All-SEC Stuart Moore struggled with a 5-over 77 after a even par first round and is tied for 107th with Moseley at 149. He had six bogeys and only a birdie on No. 10. Sophomore Patton Kizzire is tied for 122nd with a 75-151 as he bogeyed Nos. 1, 2 and 9 before making all pars on his inward nine.
"We played better than the first round, but we still need to improve more," said Auburn head coach Mike Grififn. "We are only five shots off the cutline but there are a lot of teams bunched up that we need to jump. I am happy with the way that we hung in there, but we need to dig a little deeper if we are going to move up. We need a total team effort from all five guys."
Washington fired a 6-under 282 to jump from third to first with a two-round 13-under 563 total, three shots ahead of both first round leader Wake Forest (289-566) and Arizona State, which climbed all the way from 11th with a 9-under 279 and a 10-under 566 total.
Florida is in fourth at 285-569 followed by Kentucky (287-570), Clemson (288-570), Minnesota (286-573), Oklahoma State (291-572), Texas A&M (283-574) and UCLA (294-574).
Lamar is in 11th at 283-575 ahead of Arizona (283-579), Georgia (286-579), North Carolina State (295-579) and UNLV (290-583) and Coastal Carolina (287-583), which are both on the cutline in a tie for 15th. North Carolina (289-586) is in 17th followed by Northwestern (295-587), Texas Tech (290-587), Duke (297-587), East Tennessee State (301-587) and Charlotte (299-587).
Auburn (293-588) is tied for 23rd with South Carolina (296-588) and is in front of Oklahoma (306-590), Nevada (294-590), Pepperdine (294-590), BYU (298-590), Georgia Tech (294-595) and Loyola Marymount (312-612).
Wake Forest's Reifers stretched his individual lead from one shot to three with a 2-under 70 for a 9-under 135 total. There is a four-way tie for second at 6-under 138 with Washington's Zach Bixler (68), Arizona State's Niklas Lemke (68) and a pair of Oklahoma State Cowboys in Pablo Martin (72) and Jonathan Moore (70).
Auburn will begin third round play Friday at 2:37 pm Central off No. 10 as the low 15 teams and low six individuals not on those teams will make the cut for the final round Saturday. Live-scoring of the NCAA Championship can be followed at www.golfstat.com.