The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championship
Men's Golf one stroke off 54-hole cut line at NCAA Championship
05.30.2012 | Men's Golf
May 30, 2012
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- An ace by sophomore Toni Hakula and an eagle-finish on 18 by senior Dylan Frittelli highlighted Texas' second round at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship on Wednesday morning at Riviera Country Club. The Longhorns shot an 11-over-par 295 for a 36-hole total of 17-over 585. Texas is tied for 13th place entering Thurday's final round of stroke-play competition and is just one stroke shy of the +16 cutline which advances the top-eight squads in the 30-team field to a match-play championship format.
After carding a 9-over 80 on Tuesday, Hakula led Texas with an even 71 that included his second-ever hole-in-one and first as a Longhorn. On the sixth tee at even-par with a birdie on one and a bogey on four, Hakula holed out from 166 yards with a 7-iron. Back-to-back bogeys on eight and nine cost him both strokes gained off his ace. He finished even on the back nine with a pair of birdies on 13 and 14 before two more bogeys on 15 and 18 pushed his scorecard back to even. Hakula is currently tied for 92nd place at 9-over 151.
Frittelli had a tough start with four bogeys on holes two, three, eight and 12 before he played his final five holes at 3-under. His first birdie came on the par-3 14th hole but was followed with a fifth and final bogey on 15. After making par on 16 for a +4 total, Frittelli birdied 17 and closed his round by holing out from 182 yards on Riviera's famed 18. Frittelli leads Texas on the individual leaderboard in a tie for 16th place at 2-over 144 (72-72).
Junior Julio Vegas (72-73) trails Frittelli by one stroke and is tied for 25th place. His second round included four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey on 17 that cost Vegas an even-par finish.
Freshman Jordan Spieth (73-79) and junior Cody Gribble (73-79) round out the Texas contingent at 10-over 152.
Alabama (285-287=572, +4) shot a 3-over 287 to maintain first place for the second straight day while Illinois sophomore Thomas Pieters (69-68=137, -5) took over the individual lead with a 3-under 68.
Trailing No. 2 Alabama are No. 5 UCLA (+8), and No. 19 Florida State (+12). Tied for fourth are No. 28 Oklahoma and No. 11 North Florida (+13). Washington is sixth (+14) while first-time participant Liberty (+15) finished the day in seventh. No. 6 USC jumped into a tie for eighth with California, Kent State, Florida and Illinois at +16.
More than half the field is still within reach of a top eight finish. Only five strokes separate 18th-place Iowa from the group of five teams tied for eighth while there is only nine strokes difference between Iowa and third-place Florida State.
Texas will play Thursday's last rounds beginning at 3:40 p.m. Central off the 10th tee alongside Oregon and San Diego State.
Live streaming of the 10th, 14th and 18th holes is set to begin on Thursday and run though the duration of the championship, beginning at 2 p.m. Central each day on NCAA.com.
POST-ROUND COMMENTS
Texas Head Coach John Fields
On Texas' second round at the NCAA Championship: I don't feel like we played ridiculously poorly. We just had a tough day today because we had to take a big score. It's unusual to have Jordan and Cody both shoot 79 at the same time. That hurts, and there's no way to make it up. We just need to come out tomorrow ready to play our best golf.
On Toni Hakula's ace and Dylan Frittelli's eagle: That's one of the coolest holes in golf. With that bunker uphill, almost 190 yards, and he makes a hole-in-one. To shoot even-par today after a 9-over yesterday, that's kind of apropos. And No. 18 is a hole that most people equate Riviera with, so to walk off the course with a deuce there is memorable.
On freshman Jordan Spieth's second round: This is a great golf course and tough conditions. As much as we all like to think he is Superman, he is still a freshman. He's a great player and he had a tough day. He'll come back and play well tomorrow. He's played a lot of golf, and he knows that sometimes it just doesn't go your way.
Sophomore Toni Hakula
On his hole-in-one on six (7-iron from 166 yards): It was a perfect line, and I saw it land and kick. We thought it was a little short off the tee, but then the people around the green started to make some noise, and we thought maybe it lipped out at first. But then they started shouting and waving their hands, and we knew it was in. It was pretty funny.
Freshman Jordan Spieth
On his 8-over second round: I blame what happened today on myself and am going to have to make it up to my teammates tomorrow. Everything went wrong. I didn't hit any fairways, didn't hit any greens and didn't make any putts. There really wasn't anything that went right for me. I had a few pretty bad lip-outs, too, that just didn't quite catch the hole.
On any problems in his swing: It's been wrong for about two or three weeks now. It's in my swing. I'm across the line and too long, and I've been trying to fix it and haven't been able to. It's a hard thing to try and feel, and unfortunately, wasn't able to do it.
On his double-triple on holes 10 and 11: Shots that I expect to birdie more than 50 percent of the time, instead of playing them three-four, I played them seven-seven. I wasn't playing smart. Both of them were bad wedge swings, but after I hit the shots, I should've played them bogey-bogey, at the worst. Instead, I made it harder on myself. I had four bunker shots on No. 10. It's unacceptable and out of the ordinary. I feel really bad about it.
On 10 and 11 affecting his remaining holes: After No. 11, you have four really hard holes in a row, and we were playing them into the wind today. When you make a couple of sevens (coming in to those four holes), that stretch is hard. I just couldn't get the ball in the hole. I didn't let those two holes affect me, I just couldn't get it in the hole.
Junior Julio Vegas
On his 3-under start on the back nine: I started to feel a little bit more comfortable with my swing on the first three (on the back nine). Then I made a few bogeys coming in, and the double on 17, unfortunately, and finished at two over.
On Riviera Country Club: This is a great course. If you miss, if you don't hit the ball the way you planned, you're going to make some bogeys. This is one of the toughest courses in the U.S. for a reason. You have to play your very best.
Team Standings (through two rounds)
1. Alabama - 285-287=572 (+4)
2. UCLA - 289-287=576 (+8)
3. Florida State - 290-290=580 (+12)
T4. Oklahoma - 289-292=581 (+13)
T4 North Florida - 290-291=581 (+13)
6. Washington - 296-286=582 (+14)
7. Liberty - 295-288=583 (+15)
T8. California - 295-289=584 (+16)
T8. Kent State - 293-291=584 (+16)
T8. Florida - 288-296=584 (+16)
T8. Southern California - 298-286=584 (+16)
T8. Illinois - 295-289=584 (+16)
T13. TEXAS - 290-295=585 (+17)
T13. Oregon - 291-294=585 (+17)
T15. San Diego State - 292-295=587 (+19)
T15. Auburn - 288-299=587 (+19)
17. UCF - 290-298=588 (+20)
18. Iowa - 290-299=589 (+21)
19. Georgia - 295-298=593 (+25)
T20. Chattanooga - 299-295=594 (+26)
T20. Texas A&M - 298-296=594 (+26)
22. Stanford - 293-302=595 (+27)
T23. Virginia - 306-292=598 (+30)
T23. TCU - 299-299=598 (+30)
T23. East Carolina - 295-303=598 (+30)
26. UAB - 297-303=600 (+32)
T27. Memphis - 299-302=601 (+33)
T27. Virginia Tech - 299-302=601 (+33)
29. Lamar - 299-303=602 (+34)
30. Tulsa - 306-307=613 (+45)
Individual Standings (Top 15)
1. Thomas Pieters, Illinois - 69-68=137 (-5)
T2. Anton Arboleda, UCLA - 67-72=139 (-3)
T2. Tyler McCumber, Florida - 68-71=139 (-3)
4. Justin Thomas, Alabama - 70-70=140 (-2)
T5. Chase Marinell, Liberty - 71-70=141 (-1)
T5. Patrick Rodgers, Stanford - 69-72=141 (-1)
T5. Cory Whitsett, Alabama - 73-68=141 (-1)
T8. Abraham Ancer, Oklahoma - 70-72=142 (E)
T8. Jonathan Fly, Memphis - 71-71=142 (E)
T10. Blayne Barber, Auburn - 69-74=143 (+1)
T10. Corey Conners, Kent State - 68-75=143 (+1)
T10. Greg Eason, UCF - 71-72-143 (+1)
T10. Brooks Koepka, Florida State - 71-72=143 (+1)
T10. Daniel Miernicki, Oregon - 73-70=143 (+1)
T10. Kevin Phelan, North Florida - 72-71=143 (+1)
Texas Player Standings
T16. Dylan Frittelli (2) - 72-72=144 (+2)
T26. Julio Vegas (3) - 72-73=145 (+3)
T92. Toni Hakula (4) - 80-71=151 (+9)
T104. Jordan Spieth (1) - 73-79=152 (+10)
T104. Cody Gribble (5) - 73-79=152 (+10)
