Aggies climb to seventh at NCAA II Championships
UPDATED TOURNAMENT RESULTSť
Daniels, W.Va. (May 17) - Senior Travis Lovins vaulted into the individual Top 10 and the Cameron men's golf team moved up a notch, as well, during second-round action Wednesday at the NCAA Division II Golf Championships at The Resort at Glade Springs.
Lovins was one of only four players in the field to turn in a sub-par round on Wednesday, firing a one-under 69 on the 7,030-yard Cobb Course layout. The effort moved the Canadian, Texas, native into a tie for sixth individually with a two-round total of 142 (+2), while also helping the Aggies climb to seventh in the overall team standings entering Thursday's third round.
As a team, Coach Jerry Hrnciar's Aggies posted a 295 team score in the second round, shaving one stroke off their opening-day 296 to forge a 591 (+31) total. The Aggies trail two-time defending national champion and tournament leader South Carolina-Aiken by 19 strokes, but lurk just six strokes back of South Region champion Florida Southern, which sits in fifth place with a team score of 585.
Lovins had a remarkable 15 pars in his round, which started on the back nine early Wednesday afternoon. He opened the round with eight consecutive pars before posting a birdie on the par-5 18th hole - his ninth hole of the day. Lovins bogeyed the par-3 No. 3, but got back below par with a birdie on No. 8, a 393-yard, dogleg-left par 4 with bunkers guarding both sides of a narrow green.
Wichita Falls junior Owen Mahaffey remained among the individual Top 15 for the Aggies, as well. Mahaffey shot a three-over 73 on Wednesday and is tied with two other players for 15th with a two-day total of 144 (+4).
Matt Trammell parred the final five holes of his round on Wednesday to finish with a 75. Trammell, a junior from Alliance, Neb., continued to battle illness and fatigue in the second round, but still enters Thursday's action among the Top 40 individuals in the field with a total score of 149 (+9).
Freshman Peter Svajlen suffered a double bogey on his final hole Wednesday to finish with a round of 78, while sophomore Cane Shumaker bogeyed three straight late in the second round to post a 79.
Top-ranked South Carolina-Aiken increased its three-shot opening day lead to four strokes over No. 2 California State-Bakersfield. The Pacers are 12-over-par for the tournament following a 287 (+7) team score Wednesday.
USC-Aiken's 2005 individual national champion Dane Burkhart shot an even-par 70 to move into a tie with Florida Southern's Greg Koch for the individual lead at 3-under for the tournament.
Columbus State (Ga.) University (+19) is third in the team standings, followed by Lynn (Fla.) University (+21), Florida Southern (+25), Pfeiffer (N.C.) University (+30) and Cameron.
The 2006 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships are being hosted by Concord (W.Va.) University and the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
This year's men's golf championship consists of 105 participants. The winning team of each region from the super regionals earned automatic berths. Along with these 10 bids, an addition three team berths were awarded to the Atlantic/Southeast super regional, three to the South/South Central super regional and four to the West/Northwest super regional. The top individual from each super regional site not on an advancing team were also selected to compete.
