The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Austin Regional Championships
Lopez's 68 pushes Men's Golf into second place at NCAA Austin Regional
05.14.2009 | Men's Golf
May 14, 2009
Team Results | Individual Results | Friday's Tee Times
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas junior Lance Lopez fired a three-under 68 to lead a solid Longhorns showing and put himself in a tie for the individual lead Thursday in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Men's Golf Austin Regional at the par 71, 7,412-yard University of Texas Golf Club.
Paced by Lopez's fourth sub-70 round of the season and a one-over par round from sophomore Bobby Hudson, the host Longhorns sit in second place at the 13-team event after carding a collective seven-over 291 in Thursday's opening round. Texas Tech leads the team competition through 18 holes after shooting a two-under 282 for the day, and Florida sits in third, two strokes behind Texas, at nine-over par. Top-seeded Stanford is in fourth at 10-over par, three shots behind the Longhorns. UNLV and Lamar are tied for fifth at 12-over par.
Lamar's Hugues Joannes is tied for the individual lead alongside Texas' Lopez at three-under par. The top-five tournament finishers and the low-scoring individual not on one of the top-five teams will move on to the 2009 NCAA Men's Golf Championships set for May 26-30 in Toledo, Ohio. The tournament wraps up Saturday at The University of Texas Golf Club.
Beginning his round at the 10th tee, Lopez (Missouri City, Texas) played a spotless first nine while scattering birdies at holes 10, 12 and 18 to make the turn with a three-under 33. Lopez added birdies at the first, sixth and ninth holes to finish with his three-under 68, good for a new personal low competition round at the UT Golf Club. His previous career-low round at the UT Golf Club was an even-par 71 shot at the 2008 Morris Williams Intercollegiate. It marked his first sub-70 round since last month's U.S. Intercollegiate at Stanford, where he fired a 65.
Hudson (Memphis, Tenn.) played his first five holes at three-under par after sinking a birdie at the 13th hole and carding an eagle at the 14th hole, the second-longest layout on the course at 562 yards. Hudson added one more birdie at the par-three second hole and finished his round at one-over par. Hudson is tied for ninth place heading into Friday's second round. Freshman Dylan Frittelli (Pretoria, South Africa) sank a birdie at the 14th hole and finished round one with a four-over 75 to end the day tied for 24th place at four-over par. Sophomore Donald Constable (Wayzata, Minn.) carded a five-over 76 in Thursday's opening round and is tied for 31st place heading into round two. Junior Charlie Holland (Dallas, Texas) carded an 11-over 81 in round one and is tied for 61st place.
Texas tees off in Friday's second round beginning at 9:40 a.m. Central from the first tee.
2009 NCAA Men's Golf Austin Regional
2. TEXAS 291 (+7)
Texas Players
T1. Lance Lopez 68 (-3)
T9. Bobby Hudson 72 (+1)
T24. Dylan Frittelli 75 (+4)
T31. Donald Constable 76 (+5)
T61. Charlie Holland 81 (+10)
POST-ROUND QUOTES
TEXAS JUNIOR Lance Lopez (tied for individual lead after a 3-under-par 68)
On his first-round effort: I had a good round. The course played tough, as the wind was really blowing today. I hung in there and played my best. I fell off a little on seven and eight (his 16th and 17th holes), but I came back strong with a birdie to finish at nine. I felt pretty good about my round other than those two holes.
On if he thought he had a 68 in him this morning when he teed off: Birdie on 10 (his first hole) was a good start, but I wasn't really thinking about 68 in the back of my mind. Playing shot-by-shot made everything basically fall into place. Low-ball flight for me is the key out here (in the wind).
TEXAS HEAD COACH John Fields (team in second place at 7-over-par 291)
On Texas' first-round performance: I feel real good about what our guys did today. We got off to a really good start (up to 6-under-par at one point), and then 15 and 16 seemed to turn our momentum in the wrong direction. But they hung in there, Lance Lopez gave us a great round today and the other guys played solid. It is a good start, and I feel confident we can have a better round tomorrow.
On the windy conditions: I thought it was extremely difficult today, partially because there was a lot of swirling winds. It has a tendency to kind of shake you up a little. I think Texas Tech had a fantastic round today. Anything under-par on this golf course was really good golf today.
