Northwestern
NCAA Championships
Day One Complete at NCAA Championships
5/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 31, 2011
Lipsky, Chun Named PING GCAA All-Region Selections
Round One Results (PDF Format) 
STILLWATER, Okla. -- After the first day of competition at the 2011 NCAA National Championships at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., Northwestern is tied for 23rd position in the 30-team field.
Northwestern is knotted with No. 10 LSU at 18-over 306 following one round of play, 14 strokes behind No. 1 Oklahoma State's 4-over 292 total which currently occupies the No. 8 position on the leaderboard. The top eight teams after Thursday's third round advance to match play.
Northwestern got off to a strong start at the incredibly difficult Karsten Creek course, playing to a combined 1-under par through four holes. From there, however, the course began to take its toll on the team, with NU ending up having to count an 81 after two Wildcats each fired that total.
"The team needs to stay patient and keep fighting," head coach Pat Goss said. "We knew this course would be an emotional, mental and physical battle."
Signs at the course require fans to follow from the cart paths or behind groups in the fairway to keep them out of the rough. According to Goss, Karsten Creek has pretty generous fairways and around 10 yards of thick rough on each side, but anything farther right or left from that is "jungle."
Freshman Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) continued his strong run of recent play in his first NCAA Championships round of golf. He made two bogeys on the front nine, but answered each with nearly immediate birdies to turn in an even-par 36 going out. Three bogeys on the back nine put him at 3-over entering the final hole, which he birdied to complete a 2-over 74, good for 47th place after 18 holes.
Senior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) had an eventful front nine featuring just two pars. On the first hole, he hooked his approach into trees before saving a bogey. He hooked another ball on No. 5 and again he limited the damage to just a bogey that put him at 3-over par through five holes. On No. 6, Lipsky bounced back with two great shots that led to a four-foot birdie make. He gave that shot back on No. 7 before curling a 12-footer into the cup for a birdie on the difficult eighth. A final bogey at No. 9 left him at 3-over 39 going out.
After a bogey at No. 10 to start the back nine, Lipsky left an 11-foot birdie attempt just short on No. 11, but he made good on birdie opportunities at Nos. 12 and 14 to get back to 2-over par. He then had a bogey at No. 15 before finishing, like Perry, with a birdie at No. 18 to complete an up-and-down first round at 2-over 74 alongside his freshman teammate.
Junior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) had a strong start to his day with birdies at Nos. 2 and 4 to get to 2-under par. He carded three-consecutive bogeys, however, on hole Nos. 6, 7 and 8 to account for a 1-over 37 going out. He was unable to regain his early birdie form on the tough Karsten tract, making two more bogeys and a double-bogey at No. 17 to push him to 5-over 77 on the day, which places him 90th in the field.
Sophomore Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) hit an errant first drive of the day which resulted in a double-bogey at No. 1 and set the tone for a 9-over 81. Senior Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) also carded a 9-over 81 for the Wildcats, beginning and ending his day with birdies on No. 1 and No. 18 but carding five bogeys, one double-bogey and a nine on the par-5 ninth hole after losing two balls. Losole and Dupont are tied for 134th place individually.
Prior to the completion of Tuesday's round, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced its PING Division I All-Region selections, and both Lipsky and Chun earned the honor for the third-straight year.
The second round of the NCAA Championships takes place tomorrow, Wednesday, June 1. Live results are available at NCAA.com while live tweets from the course courtesy of head coach Pat Goss can be found on Twitter @NUGolf_Live.
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