The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA West Regional Championship
Late rally lifts Men's Golf into NCAA Championships
05.21.2011 | Men's Golf
May 21, 2011
Final Results 
Follow the Horns at www.Twitter.com/UTexasGolf
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. - Texas posted five timely birdies at the 18th hole to complete a late rally that secured one of five NCAA Championships berth available for the Longhorns Saturday in the final round of the 2011 NCAA West Regional Championship.
With the top-five teams at all six NCAA regionals set to earn berths at the NCAA Championships, Texas' late push into fifth place was enough to secure the Longhorns a trip to the national championships at Oklahoma State's Karsten Creek Golf Club. UCLA won the event at 10-under par, while USC took second at 7-under par. Host San Diego placed third at even-par. Ohio State placed fourth at 1-over par, and Texas took fifth at 9-over par, two shots ahead of sixth-place SMU. Middle Tennessee State's Jason Millard qualified for the NCAA Championships as the low scorer not on one of the five advancing teams.
The Longhorns were on the outside looking in heading into the 17th and 18th holes at The Farms Golf Club (par 72, 6,903 yards). Texas stood in sixth place at 12-over par, three shots behind fifth-place SMU when the Horns made their move. The four low scorers for the Longhorns - Dylan Frittelli, Bobby Hudson, Julio Vegas and Toni Hakula - collectively posted a score of 1-over par. SMU's four scorers finished No. 17 at 3-over par, effectively cutting two shots off of the deficit and pulling the Longhorns within one shot of the Mustangs heading to the 18th hole.
The Longhorns' four low scorers, in addition to Cody Gribble, whose round did not count toward the team score, all sank birdies at the 18th hole to produce a 4-under par score for the Horns. SMU countered with a 1-under par showing from its four scorers, as Texas surged ahead to fifth place in the final team standings at 9-over par, two shots ahead of SMU's sixth-place effort of 11-over par.
The wild finish capped a roller coaster day for the Longhorns, who got off to a fast start and stood at 6-under par as a team midway through the front nine. A challenging back nine leveled off the Horns early low numbers. But, with its late flurry, Texas finished with a solid 1-over 289 a day after carding a 9-over 297 and slipping out of the top three on Friday.
Texas needed a low round from Frittelli, and the All-American delivered. Frittelli posted a season-best sixth-place finish and cemented his third top-10 showing of the season, as he posted a 1-under 71 in the final round and finished at 4-under par for the tournament. Frittelli (Pretoria, South Africa) tapped in his first birdie of the day and served up pars throughout the remainder of his round, save for one bogey, before he stepped up to the eighteenth tee.
With Texas' other four starters having completed their rounds, and the Horns holding a one-shot lead over sixth-place SMU, Frittelli needed only a par or better to give Texas fifth place outright. Frittelli did one better and sank a birdie, his third of the weekend at No. 18, to nail down fifth place and a NCAA Championships berth for the Longhorns.
Hakula (Espoo, Finland) saved his low round for last and registered a 1-under 71 on Saturday after scoring 6-over par, cumulatively, in his previous two rounds. Hakula played an error-free front nine with birdies at the first, third and ninth holes. Hakula scattered three bogeys on the back nine, but his birdie at No. 18 helped the Horns complete their rally to fifth place. Hakula tied for 34th place at five-over for the tournament.
Vegas (Maturin, Venezuela) joined Hakula in producing a key low round after shooting 12-over par in the two prior rounds. Like Hakula, Vegas got off to a hot start and knocked in birdies at the fourth and sixth holes. Vegas posted three bogeys in the remainder of the round but tapped in a momentous third birdie of the day at No. 18 to help turn the tide for Texas. Vegas tied for 54th place at 12-over par.
Hudson (Memphis, Tenn.) birdied his first two holes in addition to No. 18 and finished with a 3-over 75 in the final round. Hudson tied for 46th place at 8-over par. Gribble (Dallas, Texas) registered the second-best individual finish for the Horns, behind Frittelli, and tied for 28th place at 4-over for the tournament. Gribble carded a 4-over 76 in the final round and finished with three birdies on the afternoon.
Texas will begin competition at the NCAA Championships on May 31 in Stillwater, Okla.
2011 NCAA West Regional
The Farms Golf Club (par 72, 6,903 yards)
Final Team Standings
1 UCLA 287-285-282-854 (-10)
2 USC 278-290-289-857 (-7)
3 San Diego 294-290-280-864 (E)
4 Ohio State 300-279-286-865 (+1)
5 TEXAS 287-297-289-873 (+9)
6 SMU 295-288-292-875 (+11)
7 Pacific 298-289-291-878 (+14)
8 San Francisco 298-290-295-883 (+19)
9 North Texas 293-294-297-884 (+20)
10 Middle Tennessee State 298-287-302-887 (+23)
11 Tulsa 300-286-305-891 (+27)
12 UNLV 295-297-305-897 (+33)
13 Cleveland State 303-302-304-909 (+45)
Final Individual Standings (Top 10)
1 Patrick Cantlay (UCLA) 69-67-67-203 (-13)
T2 Steve Lim (USC) 68-71-70-209 (-7)
T2 Manav Shah (San Diego) 70-72-67-209 (-7)
T4 Michael Cress (Ohio State) 75-68-68-211 (-5)
T4 Jason Millard (MTSU) 72-69-70-211 (-5)
6 Dylan Frittelli (TEXAS) 68-73-71-212 (-4)
7 Martin Trainer (USC) 73-71-69-213 (-3)
T8 Blake Biddle (UNLV) 74-69-72-215 (-1)
T8 T.J. Bordeaux (Pacific) 74-68-73-215 (-1)
T8 Michael Klaric (Cleveland State) 72-72-71-215 (-1)
Texas Players
6 Dylan Frittelli 68-73-71-212 (-4)
T28 Cody Gribble 70-74-76-220 (+4)
T34 Toni Hakula 76-74-71-221 (+5)
T46 Bobby Hudson 73-76-75-224 (+8)
T54 Julio Vegas 76-80-72-228 (+12)
POST-ROUND COMMENTS
Texas head coach John Fields
On the Longhorns' five birdies at the 18th hole
"I knew that No. 18 was a hole we could take advantage of, but the rest of the field could, as well. We needed each of those guys to hit quality tee shots and get on to the green. Toni Hakula's may have been the best. He hit a 5-iron and caught the front of the green and then it rolled to the back. He managed to chip within 12 feet and made the putt. But for all of those guys to get the birdie there was just absolutely huge. It shows the character of our guys. They stuck in there. We did not play well as a team and did not play the golf we're capable of playing. But, we were able to advance when we didn't have our best stuff. We've got a lot of work to do over the next week to get prepared for the national championships. But, the character of this team showed up this week, and we managed to get through.
On qualifying for the national championships
"The way we qualify for postseason now, the No. 1 criteria is to have a .500 head-to-head winning percentage (to qualify for a NCAA regional). We did that while playing the No. 1 schedule in the country (according to Golfweek rankings), and that was tough on our guys. We really felt we didn't play as well as we could all spring, though we had our moments here and there. We've got one more tournament to give ourselves the best opportunity to do that, so that is gratifying. I felt that our schedule and the character of our team would help us get through today, and it did."
On Julio Vegas and Toni Hakula posting low final rounds
"The regional championships are unlike any other tournament because they have finality attached to them. If you don't play well, you are done for the year, and that's really hard for these kids to get their arms around. I thought that Julio and Toni handled it well in places and certainly on the last day. They combined to shoot a 143 today. That shows you why Toni is the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, and Julio is coming out, as well. Each of those two guys have played well throughout the spring, and a lot of our success as a team is predicated upon their success."
