May 17, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. -- - Stanford's men's golf team shot an opening round 277 (-3) and is in third place after the first day of the Stanford Regional on its home course.
The Cardinal is four shots behind first round leader San Francisco, which shot a seven-under 273 today, and one shot back of California, which opened with a 276 (-4).
Seven teams and 39 golfers managed to post scores of even par or better in favorable scoring conditions on the par-70 Stanford Golf Course.
UAB, Central Florida and Wichita State are tied for fourth at 278 (-2) while Tennessee is at even par 280.
The top five teams from the Stanford Regional advance to the NCAA Championships to be held later this month at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
Freshman Patrick Grimes paced the Cardinal on day one, shooting a two-under 68. He is part of a large pack of golfers who are tied for seventh, two strokes behind co-leaders Sang Yi of LSU and Zachary Blair of BYU, who is playing as an individual.
Grimes, a Palo Alto native who attended The Menlo School, got off to a fast start this morning, collecting birdies on three of his first four holes. After making bogeys on holes 5 and 6, Grimes came back with a birdie on No. 9 to make the turn at 34.
After four straight pars and a bogey on the par-3 14th, Grimes birdied holes 15 and 16 to close with a 68.
Senior David Chung is tied for 17th after shooting a one-under 69. He was three-under on his round after making birdies on 1, 5 and 16 but closed with bogeys on 17 and 18 for an opening round 69.
Freshman Patrick Rodgers overcame two double bogeys on his card to shoot an opening round 70 and is tied for 27th place. He played the first nine holes at one-over but got back to even with a birdie on the par-4 11th. After making a double bogey on the par-3 14th, Rodgers answered with birdies on 15 and 16 and made a clutch par save from behind the green on 18 for his round of 70.
Cameron Wilson is also part of the large group who sit at even par. Wilson was one-over after his first 14 holes before going to one-under after making birdies on 15 and 16. He bogeyed the par-3 17th for an opening round score of 70.
Andrew Yun made a double bogey on his final hole and finished with a two-over score of 72. Yun made the turn at two-under, only to double the par-4 12th hole and bogey the par-4 13th. He got one stroke back with a birdie on the par-3 14th, only to finish with a double bogey.
Stanford will be grouped with San Francisco and California in the second round and will tee off from the first hole beginning at 9:15 a.m.