The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championship
Men's Golf goes low on day two at NCAA Championship
05.29.2013 | Men's Golf
May 29, 2013
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MILTON, Ga. -- Six combined birdies on the first and second holes of Capital City Club Crabapple Course fueled a 9-under-par 271 for the Texas Men's Golf team in Wednesday's second round of the NCAA Championship. The fourth-seeded Longhorns (279-271) climbed to third place in the team standings at -10 through 36 holes of the stroke-play portion of the national championship.
The top-eight teams through three rounds of stroke play will advance to match-play rounds beginning Friday. The national champion will be crowned Sunday, June 2, when the match pitting the final two teams is decided. The NCAA individual champion will be crowned Thursday pending the conclusion of the final stroke-play round.
Host Georgia Tech (274-274=548) holds a one-stroke lead over second-place California (277-272=549). Alabama (275-276=551) is one back of Texas, and Arkansas and Illinois are tied for fifth at 3-under 557. Arizona State (558) and Texas A&M (560) round out the top eight teams in the field, while UCF (561) and Oklahoma (562) complete the top-10 after two rounds.
Sophomore Kramer Hickok turned in Texas' low second round of 66. Beginning with two straight pars on Nos. 10 and 11, he found his first birdie on the par-5 12th hole. His only bogey of the day came two holes later, and he made the turn at even par. Hickok heated up on the front nine with a pair of back-to-back birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 and Nos. 5 and 6. Through 36 holes, Hickok is 2-under and tied for 24th.
Senior Julio Vegas and freshman Brandon Stone each matched their first-round 68s and are tied for ninth place at 4-under. Like Hickok, Vegas had a pair of birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 - Texas' 10th and 11th holes of the round - and Stone added one of his own on the second hole.
Junior Toni Hakula rounded out Texas' four scorers with a 1-under 69. His 36-hole score is even-par 140, good for a share of 37th place. Senior Cody Gribble is five shots behind Hakula and tied for 97th overall.
Texas will play in Thursday's lead group alongside Georgia Tech and California beginning at 12:10 p.m. Central off the first tee.
NCAA.com will provide live web streaming of select holes from 2-7 p.m. Central Thursday. A link will be provided on the official Texas Men's Golf Twitter account once available tomorrow afternoon.
NCAA Championship
Team Leaderboard (through 36 holes)
Capital City Club Crabapple Course (par 70, 7,319 yards)
1. Georgia Tech - 274-274=548 (-12)
2. California - 277-272=549 (-11)
3. TEXAS - 279-271=550 (-10)
4. Alabama - 275-276=551 (-9)
T5. Arkansas - 286-271=557 (-3)
T5. Illinois - 276-281=557 (-3)
7. Arizona State - 270-288=558 (-2)
8. Texas A&M - 285-275=560 (E)
9. UCF - 287-274=561 (+1)
10. Oklahoma - 278-284=562 (+2)
T11. Tennessee - 286-277=563 (+3)
T11. North Florida - 281-282=563 (+3)
T13. Washington - 281-283=564 (+4)
T13. Florida State - 287-277=564 (+4)
T15. TCU - 294-272=566 (+6)
T15. New Mexico - 292-274=566 (+6)
17. LSU - 285-282=567 (+7)
18. Coastal Carolina - 293-275=568 (+8)
T19. Georgia - 286-283=569 (+9)
T19. Southern California - 291-278=569 (+9)
T21. UCLA - 289-281=570 (+10)
T21. UNLV - 286-284=570 (+10)
T23. Auburn - 292-279=571 (+11)
T23. Texas Tech - 288-283=571 (+11)
25. Oklahoma State - 279-293=572 (+12)
26. Florida - 291-283=574 (+14)
27. Kent State - 282-293=575 (+15)
28. Ball State - 290-289=579 (+19)
29. St. Mary's (Calif.) - 287-294=581 (+21)
30. South Carolina - 286-296=582 (+22)
Player Leaderboard (through 36 holes)
1. Jon Rahm, Arizona State - 61-72=133 (-7)
T2. Greg Eason, UCF - 68-66=134 (-6)
T2. Nicolas Echavarria, Arkansas - 70-64=134 (-6)
T4. Brandon Hagy, California - 66-69=135 (-5)
T4. Max Homa, California - 70-65=135 (-5)
T4. Rick Lamb, Tennessee - 68-67=135 (-5)
T4. Ollie Schniederjans, Georgia Tech - 67-68=135 (-5)
T4. Justin Thomas, Alabama - 67-68=135 (-5)
T9. Julio Vegas, TEXAS - 68-68=136 (-4)
T9. Brandon Stone, TEXAS - 68-68=136 (-4)
T9. 5 additional players at 4-under 136
Additional Texas Players
T24. Kramer Hickok - 72-66=138 (-2)
T37. Toni Hakula - 71-69=140 (E)
T97. Cody Gribble - 75-70=145 (+5)
Post-round Comments
Texas Head Coach John Fields
All five guys are playing par golf, what kind of confidence does that give you?
"It's really nice. It doesn't always happen like that, so you're really appreciative when it does happen. I feel like my guys just played really good golf these last couple of days. Today was one of those special days."
How much does playing 7-under in the middle of a round help the team?
"That helped a lot. That really was the catalyst for us to have a great round today. I think 271 on this golf course and 9-under plus 1-under yesterday is outstanding, but we're not done. We've got work to do over the course of the next day."
Talk about Kramer Hickok on the back nine.
"He's the reason for the occasion this year. He really works hard and has a great work ethic. He has a great attitude. It's nice to see someone rewarded with good play. For him, he just played so well today. I'm really proud of him.
Senior Julio Vegas
Was the course playing differently this morning versus yesterday afternoon?
"It was doable. It was set up similar, some good holes, some tough holes. I played pretty solid the whole day. I made a couple mistakes, made a bad swing here or there. I'm pretty happy with 68 today."
After the morning, you're in the top five. Does that change your strategy for tomorrow at all?
"It's the same mentality going into tomorrow. Going to try and win the crown and then we'll see what happens from there."
