Aggies remain in Top 10 at national tournament
UPDATED TOURNAMENT RESULTSť
Daniels, W.Va. (May 18) - On a day where none of the 105 individual competitors managed to break par, the Cameron University men's golf team held its ground at the NCAA Division II National Championships. Coach Jerry Hrnciar's squad slipped one notch in the team standings, but still enters Friday's final round of the national tournament tied for eighth among the 20 teams competing.
Cameron turned in a team score of 304 Thursday on the par-70 Cobb Course at The Resort at Glade Springs and sits tied with Cal State-San Bernardino with a three-round total of 895. The score has the Aggies trailing tournament leader South Carolina-Aiken by 27 shots, but just 10 strokes out of reaching the Top 5.
In addition to ranking among the team leaders, Cameron also has two players among the individual front-runners. Senior Travis Lovins, who fired a one-under 69 on Wednesday, posted a 74 in the third round, while junior Owen Mahaffey carded the best Aggie round of the day with a 72. Both players are tied for seventh with three-day totals of 216 (+6).
Lovins, a Canadian, Texas, native who earlier in the day was named to the Golf Coaches Association of America/PING All-South Central Region team, began his round with back-to-back bogeys as Cameron started the day on the back nine Thursday. But birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 had his score back to one-over at the turn. Lovins had three bogeys on the front side of the course before finishing with pars on the final two holes for his 74.
Mahaffey shot a four-over 39 on the back side to open his round, but caught fire on the front side with birdies on Nos. 1, 4 and 5, to move to one-over. A bogey on the final hole was the only blemish on Mahaffey's scorecard over the final 10 holes, as the Wichita Falls product finished the day two-over for his round.
Matt Trammell suffered back-to-back double-bogeys on holes 5 and 6 to finish with a round of 80 (+10). Sophomore Cane Shumaker carded a 78 for the Aggies, while freshman Peter Svajlen dropped six strokes to par on the first three holes of the day before finishing with an 83.
In the team standings, second-place Cal State-Bakersfield inched a stroke closer to top-ranked USC-Aiken. The Roadrunners turned in the lowest team score of the day with a 15-over 295 and trail the Pacers by just three strokes entering the final round. Jamie Amoretti of St. Mary's (Texas) University moved into a share the individual lead on Thursday with an even-par 70, one of only two even-par scores posted on the day. Amoretti's three-round total of 209 (-1) equals USC-Aiken's defending individual national champion Dane Burkhart, who turned in his first above-par round of the championship on Thursday with a 72. Floriday Southern's Greg Koch is two strokes back after a 74 in the third round. Three players are tied for fourth at 215 (+5), with four others - including Cameron's Lovins and Mahaffey - a stroke back tied for seventh.
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 additional 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.
