The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Lopez sits in top-five through round one at NCAA Championships
06.01.2010 | Men's Golf
June 1, 2010
Round 1 Results 
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Texas senior Lance Lopez fired a 3-under 69 to pace the Longhorns in round one of the 2010 NCAA Men's Golf Championships at The Honors Course (par 72, 7,395 yards).
The Longhorns carded a solid 2-over 290 in the opening round and ended the day in a tie for 10th place alongside Georgia Tech. Florida State and Oklahoma State lead through round one at 5-under par. Oregon sits in third at 4-under par, while Texas A&M holds fourth at 3-under par. Arizona State and Clemson are tied for fifth at 2-under par.
Individually, Arizona State's Jesper Kennegard and Augusta State's Henrik Norlander lead at 4-under par. Lopez and nine others sit one shot back in a tie for third place. The 30-team field will be pared down to the top-eight teams after Thursday's third and final round of stroke play. The remaining eight teams will begin a match-play event to determine the national champion with the match-play quarterfinals to begin on Friday. The individual national champion will be crowned after the final round of stroke play on Thursday.
Making his fourth consecutive NCAA Championships appearance, Lopez (Missouri City, Texas) opened with a 35 on the front nine behind birdies at the fifth and sixth holes. He added additional birdies at the 13th and 14th holes en route to his opening-round 3-under 69. It tied his personal-best NCAA Championship round, which he produced in the opening round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in Williamsburg, Va.
Sophomore Dylan Frittelli, the 2010 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, also produced his finest round at the NCAA Championships with an even-par 72. Frittelli (Pretoria, South Africa) birdied the first and eighth holes en route to a 34 on the front nine before carding a 38 on the back to finish the day at even-par. Frittelli is tied for 36th place heading into Wednesday's second round.
In his third consecutive NCAA Championships appearance, junior Bobby Hudson fired a 2-over 74 behind birdies at the sixth and ninth holes. Playing in his first college event in his home state, the Memphis native sits in a tie for 65th place heading into the second round.
Freshman Cody Gribble carded a 3-over 75 in his NCAA Championships debut with birdies at the seventh and 17th holes. Gribble (Dallas, Texas) is tied for 90th place. Senior Charlie Holland, who joins Lopez in making his fourth straight NCAA Championships appearance, matched Gribble's 3-over 75 in round one after sinking birdies at the ninth and 16th holes. Holland is tied for 90th place.
Texas tees off in Wednesday's second round at 7:20 a.m. Eastern (6:20 a.m. Central).
2010 NCAA Men's Golf Championships
The Honors Course (par 72, 7,395 yards) - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Team Standings (Top 10 of 30)
T1 Florida State 283 (-5)
T1 Oklahoma State (283) (-5)
3 Oregon 284 (-4)
4 Texas A&M 285 (-3)
T5 Arizona State 286 (-2)
T5 Clemson 286 (-2)
T7 Florida 287 (-1)
T7 Augusta State 287 (-1)
9 Washington 289 (+1)
T10 TEXAS 290 (+2)
T10 Georgia Tech 290 (+2)
Individual Leaderboard (Top 11)
T1 Jesper Kennegard (Arizona State) 68 (-4)
T1 Henrik Norlander (Augusta State) 68 (-4)
T3 Lance Lopez (TEXAS) 69 (-3)
T3 Alex Ching (San Diego) 69 (-3)
T3 Phillip Choi (Florida) 69 (-3)
T3 Luke Hopkins (Clemson) 69 (-3)
T3 Seath Lauer (Florida State) 69 (-3)
T3 Ryan O'Rear (Baylor) 69 (-3)
T3 Wes Roach (Duke) 69 (-3)
T3 Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State) 69 (-3)
T3 Pontus Widegren (UCLA) 69 (-3)
T3 Eugene Wong (Oregon) 69 (-3)
Texas Players
T3. Lance Lopez 69 (-3)
T36. Dylan Frittelli 72 (E)
T65. Bobby Hudson 74 (+2)
T90. Cody Gribble 75 (+3)
T90. Charlie Holland 75 (+3)
POST-ROUND COMMENTS
Texas head coach John Fields
"The 290 today was a good score. Obviously, there were better scores out there. Oklahoma State, and Florida State, among others, shot some nice scores. There were great scores out there from great teams. I know our guys are going to be ready for tomorrow. On day one, you can shoot yourself out of the tournament, and we didn't do that. We need to keep our goal in mind, and that's to advance to match play. We need to play good golf from here on out in these next 36 holes."
On the rounds from Lance Lopez and Dylan Frittelli: I'm really happy for Lance. He came out and shot 3-under for the day on a great golf course. It was a good start to the day, just outstanding. Dylan played well. Even-par was a good round today. I know he felt like he left a couple of shots out there. We'll get some good rest tonight and be ready to play pretty good golf tomorrow. We want to get right back after it.
Senior Lance Lopez
On his opening round: It was great from tee-to-green. I executed everything I wanted to do. I got it up-and-down from everywhere, but most importantly I stayed patient out there. On a course like this, you can't force any shots. If you do, it can really slide out from under you. You have to stay patient and execute your game plan.
