Northwestern
NCAA Championships
Second Round Concludes at NCAA Championships
5/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 27, 2009
Round Two Results and Round Three Tee Times (PDF Format) 
Current Results Via Golfstat.com
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Northwestern returned to the Inverness Club pre-dawn Thursday morning to complete its second round suspended by darkness Wednesday evening, having trouble in the wet conditions to end up with a 20-over 304 for the round.
Through 36 holes the Wildcats are 24th at 34-over 602 (298-304), besting their playing partners for the first two rounds No. 47 Virginia (+35) and No. 48 Ohio State (+36). NU will be paired with No. 14 UCLA and No. 31 Oregon for its third round, which will begin at approximately 3:47 p.m. ET/2:47 CT. The top eight teams after Thursday's final round advance to match play for the NCAA title.
Wednesday afternoon portion of the second round:
After a lengthy weather delay Wednesday on the second day of the 2009 NCAA National Championships at the Inverness Club, play was suspended at nightfall with Northwestern still on the course. The second round will resume at approximately 6:45 a.m. local time Thursday, with NU needing to complete the front nine after starting the second round off No. 10 tee.
Freshman Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) was the star through the second round for Northwestern, currently sitting at 1-under par through 14 holes. Chien began his day with a birdie on the par-4 10th, landing his approach 15 feet short of the hole from the rough before holing the putt. After making bogey on the 12th, Chien made two tremendous par saves on Nos. 14 and 15 following errant tee shots.
Chien then made birdie on 16 and 18, backing up his approach on 18 nearly into the cup before it stopped a foot away for an easy tap in. As darkness fell, Chien made bogey on the fifth to fall to 1-under on his round.
Chien is playing in his first tournament of the season and of his collegiate career after earning a spot with his play in practice. He began the NCAA Championships with a 10-over 81 Tuesday before settling down with his stellar start to the second Wednesday.
Fellow freshman Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) stands at even par through 11 holes. Chun made birdie on his second hole of the day before running into trouble with three-straight bogies on holes 14, 15 and 16. He recovered with a birdie on 18, spinning his approach back nearly 15 feet down to hole level before draining the putt. He concluded his evening with a birdie on the par-4 11th as play was suspended.
Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) is 4-over through 13 holes of play. He began the day with three bogies in his first five holes, sandwiching those scores around a birdie on the par-5 13th. He kicked off his second nine with a birdie on the first, but bogies on each of his last three holes before the end of play left him at 4-over par.
After entering Wednesday with a share of the individual lead, junior Jonathan Bowers (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) is 5-over through 12 holes on Wednesday. Bowers made four bogies on the back, including a "good" bogey on the 14th after finding trouble behind a tree and with an errant second shot. He birdied in the 16th hole to get a stroke back, but a double-bogey on the par-3 third hole with water guarding the green left him with some work to do Thursday morning.
Junior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) rounded out NU's Wednesday effort at 6-over through 12 holes. Lipsky bogied the first two holes of the day before putting his drive on the par-3 12th nice and tight for an easy birdie. Back-to-back doubles on 14 and 15 hurt him as well.
Northwestern was scheduled to tee it up beginning at 12:59 p.m. local time but a weather delay prevented the Wildcats from hitting the links until 5:22 p.m. ET. Chien immediately birdied No. 10 to get NU off to a strong start following the delay.
Thursday morning portion of the second round:
Play resumed at 6:45 a.m. ET/5:45 a.m. CT in hazy early morning conditions. The rough was quite wet and played even thicker than it had on Tuesday and Wednesday, causing scores to balloon for all competitors.
Chien finished his round with bogies on Nos. 7 and 9, nearly scrambling for a par on the ninth after a disastrous tee shot into the trees right of the fairway. He backed up his third shot right past the hole but his par putt went wide. Chien still finished at 1-over 72 to make him 11-over for the tournament (81-72=153).
Chun also had a tough beginning to his morning, lipping out putts on Nos. 3 and 4 for a bogey-double start. He also made bogey on No. 7 before recovering to birdie the par-5 eighth hole. On No. 9, he earned a rare birdie opportunity on a hole that played extremely difficult Thursday morning, settling for par to finish with a 3-over 74 for the round. On the tournament, Chun has a 7-over 149 (75-74).
Lipsky made birdie on the long par-4 fourth hole to kick off an up-and-down Thursday morning that included a double bogey on No. 5, a birdie on No. 8 and a bogey on No. 9. Lipsky finished with a 7-over 78 for a total of 15-over 157 (79-78) through 36 holes.
Bowers' challenging second round continued in the morning when he made a trio of bogies against a trio of pars to conclude with a 9-over 80. For the tournament he has a 7-over 149 (69-80).
Starting the morning on No. 5, Dupont had a very difficult stretch. After going bogey-par-bogey to begin, Dupont found the impenetrable rough on the par-5 eighth, ending up with a triple bogey eight on the hole. He recovered on No. 9 to chip in from short of the green for a birdie, giving him a 9-over 80 on the round. For the Championships, Dupont is 13-over 155 (75-80).
Players Mentioned
