MGLF: Snyder, Wright Lead Buckeyes to Tie for Sixth in Opening Round of NCAA Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Field battles rain throughout the morning session at the Inverness Club in Toledo
TOLEDO, Ohio Ohio natives Vaughn Snyder and Brad Wright, the two eldest Buckeyes competing this week, opened the 2009 NCAA Championships at Inverness Club with rounds of 1-over 72 to lead the Ohio State men’s golf team to a tie for sixth Tuesday. The Buckeyes posted a team score of 10-over 294 on the par 71, 7,255-yard course in Toledo with Arizona State and Tennessee.
Oklahoma State and Georgia are tied for first after 18 holes at 4-over 288. The Buckeyes are only two strokes back from third-place Chattanooga at 8-over while Washington and San Diego are a stroke back in a tie for fourth.
Ohio State played in the morning wave and began teeing off at 7:47 a.m. The rain that was predicted to hit the area in the afternoon struck in the morning instead and ranged from sprinkling to steady through the Buckeyes’ first nine holes. Temperatures remained cooler throughout the day, but it was nothing out of the norm of Ohio weather for the Buckeyes.
Snyder, a senior from Massillon, had a steady round, saving several pars while tallying only three bogeys. He also birdied two par 4’s, on Nos. 5 and 9. Snyder was the only Buckeye to flirt with under-par, sitting at 1-under for six holes.
Wright, a junior from Cambridge, stumbled out of the gates, with bogeys on three of his first four holes and a birdie squeezed in on No. 2. He settled down after that and was 1-under the rest of his round. Wright birdied Nos. 10 and 16 and his only hiccup on the back nine was a bogey on the 14th hole.
The pair of captains is tied for 16th with their scores of 72 with 11 other golfers. Three players are tied for first, including two from the Big Ten. Jonathan Bowers of Northwestern and Scott Langley of Illinois, along with N.C. State’s Matt Hill, each opened with a 69.
Also beginning the tournament with a solid round was sophomore Michael Cress. The Dublin, Ohio, native came back from a double-bogey on No. 8 with a birdie on 13 the only two par 5 holes on the course. But he gave the strokes back with bogeys on his last two holes to finish with a score of 74 to tie for 41st.
Rounding out the Buckeye lineup were sophomores Brad Smith and Bo Hoag, with rounds of 76 and 77 to tie for 75th and 93rd, respectively. Smith was three-over on the front and back nines, but closed with a birdie of the round on 18.
Hoag had a tough time and missed several putts for par by inches, giving him seven bogeys with a single birdie on the 14th hole. It was the first time Hoag’s round did not count for the team score out of 35 rounds this season. In his two years, the Upper Arlington native’s rounds have counted a stellar 94 percent of the time.
The second round of the NCAA Championships begins with teams teeing off at 7 a.m. Ohio State’s tee times range from 12:59-1:37 p.m. off of No. 10. Live scoring is available on www.golfstat.com.
2009 NCAA Championships
Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio
Par 71, 7,255 yards
Team Standings Scores
T-1. Oklahoma State 288 (+4)
T-1. Georgia 288 (+4)
3. Chattanooga 292 (+8)
T-4. Washington 293 (+9)
T-4. San Diego 293 (+9)
T-6. Ohio State 294 (+10)
T-6. Arizona State 294 (+10)
T-6. Tennessee 294 (+10)
9. Michigan 296 (+12)
T-10. Arkansas 297 (+13)
T-10. Duke 297 (+13)
T-12. Texas A&M 298 (+14)
T-12. Northwestern 298 (+14)
T-12. Alabama 298 (+14)
T-15. Illinois 299 (+15)
T-15. TCU 299 (+15)
17. UCF 300 (+16)
T-18. Georgia Tech 301 (+17)
T-18. Iowa 301 (+17)
20. Wake Forest 302 (+18)
21. Texas Tech 303 (+19)
T-22. Southern Calif. 305 (+21)
T-22. Stanford 305 (+21)
T-22. South Carolina 305 (+21)
T-25. Virginia 306 (+22)
T-25. Oregon 306 (+22)
T-25. UCLA 306 (+22)
28. Texas 308 (+24)
T-29. Florida 310 (+26)
T-29. Arizona 310 (+26)
Ohio State Results Scores
T-16. Brad Wright 72 (+1)
T-16. Vaughn Snyder 72 (+1)
T-41. Michael Cress 74 (+3)
T-75. Brad Smith 76 (+5)
T-93. Bo Hoag 77 (+6)
