AMHERST, Va. — A six-shot turnaround in the second round was enough to propel the Stanford men’s golf team into near position for a finalist spot at the NCAA Regional Golf Championships at Poplar Grove Golf Club as the second round of action concluded on Monday evening. Stanford, which entered the morning completing the first round’s action as 10-over and in 12th place, currently sits at 14-over for the tournament and in a tie for 8th overall.
Stanford began the regional on Sunday afternoon with a prorated first round of action due to inclement weather in the region which is expected to last through the remainder of the tournament. Though a majority of the Cardinal finished the first round on Sunday, final results were not available until the field finished in the early hours of Monday morning.
Jay Leng, Logan Kim and TK Chantananuwat rattled off the best scores for the Cardinal, all finishing the first round at 2-over. Leng shot par through the opening nine and entered the final three holes at 1-under. However, three-consecutive bogeys forced him into a 74 for the round at 2-over. Likewise, Kim entered the back stretch at 1-under, but a bogey on 16 and a double bogey on his final hole of the day inflated an otherwise good start to the competition. Chantananuwat, who battled through a 38 on the front nine, shot a 34 on the back nine to turn in the third of Stanford’s 74’s on the day.
Nathan Wang shot well during the round, but some late trouble forced him into a 4-over, 76 card for the round after going +4 on his final four holes of the afternoon. Kush Arora, who served as the non-scorer for the Cardinal during the round, bookended his round with birdies while churning out a 5-over, 77 for the day to conclude round one.
Round two, however, Saw a remarkable turnaround from Wang, who fired back to claim a 4-under, 68 for the afternoon and break into the top 15 overall at even-par. Starting on the back nine, Wang earned a birdie on his first hole of the day before going even through his first nine holes. On the front nine, Wang took charge with four birdies including one off the turn and one on his final hole of the day to complete the resurgence and slot himself in a tie for 12th overall.
Jay Leng shot well for Stanford on Monday, going 1-under through his first nine holes before almost turning a 1-over Card to end the day. However, a birdie on the final hole of the round kept Leng at even-par for the day and inside the top 25 overall for the tournament in a tie for 23rd at 2-over. Logan Kim also shot well during the round, tallying four birdies in his account, but a double bogey on hole one past the turn eventually saw him turn in a 2-over, 74 card for the round. Chantananuwat also did his best to battle the elements on Monday, rattling off two birdies with some mid-round trouble forcing him into a 6-over card for the day. Kush Arora also shot well, going 6-over while claiming three birdies as the non-scoring round.
Stanford is back in action tomorrow morning, teeing off from hole 1 at 6:55 a.m. PT for the third and final round of action at the NCAA Amherst Regional. The Cardinal sits nine shots back from the fifth finalist spot which would earn the Cardinal a spot at the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad, Calif., from May 23-28.