SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – Stanford stood its ground Saturday during the second round of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships at Rich Harvest Farms. The Cardinal went 1-under for a 287, six strokes better than its previous circuit on the par-72 track.
At 4-over through 36 holes, Stanford is tied for 16th with Alabama and North Carolina. Those three teams will tee off Sunday at 10:07 a.m. PT.
After arriving at the course at 4:30 a.m. local time to finish its first round, the Cardinal turned right back around and grinded out another 18.
"I'm happy our guys hung in there," said Conrad Ray, Stanford's Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "It was tough sledding this morning with the early wakeup call. We had to play the last four holes on the course, which have been some of the toughest for the field.
"Our guys didn't give up, and I was proud of them for that."
The morning conditions made for long and wet rough, which gave the Cardinal a touch of trouble while completing its first round.
Stanford started its second round on the back nine, posting bogey or worse on 14 occasions between the five competing student-athletes. The final nine holes were nearly flawless, with seven birdies countered by only bogey.
Isaiah Salinda, who has been blasting it as well as anyone on a course suited for ball strikers, was 1-under on the day and now 2-under overall. Salinda played his final 10 holes at 2-under and is tied for 28th.
Maverick McNealy closed his front nine with birdies on holes 16 and 17, then scratched out nine straight pars to close the day at 1-under. He's 3-over through 36 holes, matching the output of Franklin Huang and Brandon Wu.
Wu, Huang and Viraat Badhwar each had two birdies on the final nine holes. Badhwar was 1-over for the second straight round.
UNLV leads the field at 14-under, and Texas' Scottie Scheffer is the frontrunner among individuals at 8-under.
While the field finished its first round in the morning and near perfect conditions existed throughout the day, 3,250 fans flocked to the course, leading to scenes on the fairways and putting greens that felt like the PGA Tour with roars and cheers sporadically echoing across the 1,800 acre course.
Temperatures in the 80's and winds near idle speed made for prime scoring conditions in the morning and early afternoon, allowing 17 teams to post rounds below par.
Live results for Sunday's round will be available at GoStanford.com.
