Northwestern Charging at Weather-Suspended NCAA Central Regional

5/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

May 21, 2010

Current Results at Point of Second-Round Suspension (PDF Format)

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Northwestern currently is 2-under par as a team late in the second round of the NCAA Central Regional, but play Friday at the Warren Golf Course has been suspended due to severe weather with the Wildcats charging toward the top of the standings.

With two Wildcats finished with their Friday rounds, two on No. 18 and one midway through No. 17, Northwestern's 2-under team total coupled with its round of 4-over 284 on Thursday has put NU at third place overall. NU is three shots in front of fourth-place Florida (which is through 13 holes), four shots on top of fifth-place Michigan (which is finished) and five strokes ahead of sixth-place Iowa (also finished). The top five teams at the Regional advance to the NCAA National Championships.

Round two will be played to completion at 7 a.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, May 22. Teams will not be re-paired based on the 36-hole standings, but instead will keep the same pairings as they had Friday. This means NU will play alongside second-place Florida State and ninth-place Virginia Tech. Northwestern's third round then will get underway at approximately 7:50 a.m. CT with tee times off No. 1.

Junior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) began his day with even-par golf until the par-5 fifth hole, when he was just short of the green in two shots before chipping up and tapping in a birdie. He quickly made a second birdie at the 7th hole and another at the monstrous par-4 10th to move to 3-under on the day. He continued to nail greens-in-regulation, narrowly missing a fourth birdie on the 15th when a 15-foot uphill putt slid just by the hole on the right. On No. 18, where a hazard runs just to the left of a long and narrow green, he took a very aggressive line at the back left hole location, putting himself just outside of five feet away with his approach. As he lined up that birdie putt, the weather sirens sounded to put a temporary hold on his strong day.

Sophomore Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) also started out with pars on the first four holes before taking advantage of the fifth. He reached the green in two -- avoiding the front-side pot bunker that he found on Thursday -- before two-putting for a birdie. That result preceded a string of eight-straight pars, which included a fantastic up-and-down from the long grass well left of the green on the par-3 11th. On No. 14, also a long par-3, he went way right of the green and this time made bogey to go back to even par. He heated up just before the weather delay with back-to-back birdies on the short par-4 16th and the par-5 17th.

Playing in the No. 1 position after carding a 3-under 67 Thursday, junior Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) had an eventful start to his round, making birdies at Nos. 1 and 3, but bogeys on Nos. 2 and 4. On the par-3 ninth, he made a great out from the bunker but the resulting tricky downhill 5-footer slid by to leave him at 1-over par through nine.

He got that stroke right back, nailing a 25-foot putt at No. 10 (and punctuating his excitement with a fist pump). Again, though, he found the bunker alongside the green at the par-3 11th and missed a par try to send him back to 1-over. After that, he made five-straight pars before the weather delay caught up to him in the midst of the par-5 17th.

Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) had a wild day on the course, fighting a wayward driver the entire round while carding a 2-over 72. Chien started off on the right foot with a birdie at No. 1, but drifted over to the plus side with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6. Chien had to play provisional drives on seven total holes Friday, but he was able to find every errant shot on the front and scrambled to several good pars.

On the back nine, Chien jumped to 3-over par after his drive on No. 12 went out of bounds, leading to a double-bogey. He recovered immediately with birdies at Nos. 12 and 15 to get back down to 1-over but his driver again failed him on the par-5 17th. He was able to make a four with his second drive to save a great bogey before a solid up-and-down from the rough right of the green on 18 left him at 7-over 147 (75-72) for the tournament.

Senior Jonathan Bowers (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) fell victim to some tough luck early on in his round, seeing birdie putts doing a complete 180 degree lip out on both Nos. 1 and 5. Double bogeys at Nos. 3 and 7 coupled with a bogey on No. 9 after his tee shot on the par-3 came up well short of the green left him at 4-over 39 on the front side. He fought back with a nice chip-in birdie on the lengthy par-3 11th hole before another short par putt miss at No. 14. He finished his day by saving a good bogey after his drive on No. 18 found the water. Bowers' 5-over 75 puts him at 8-over 148 (73-75).

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