May 15, 2013
Tournament Central
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Stanford competes as the No. 2 seed at the 2013 NCAA D1 Men's Golf Regional hosted by Ohio State on Thursday through Saturday at the par-71, 7,286-yard Scarlet Course.
The No. 10 Cardinal tees off with No. 5 New Mexico and No. 19 Auburn off the first hole at 5 a.m. (PT). Live scoring is on Tournament Central page.
"To be competitive on this field, I think the key is to have solid contribution one through five," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray. "You have to play well at regionals no matter what you're ranked, what your seed is or who you play with. We understand that we have to advance in that top-five category to move onto NCAA finals."
The postseason lineup features sophomore Patrick Rodgers, junior Cameron Wilson, senior Andrew Yun, senior Steve Kearney and freshman David Boote.
"I was very excited when the regional draw came out," said Rodgers, an Avon, Ind., native who has had six top-1 finishes in 10 events on the season including three season titles and five overall. "This is about as close to home as I get in college golf and I am very excited to see some friends and family. A lot of people have reached out to try to come over for the event and I hope I can play my best golf for them."
Rodgers led the Cardinal with a 10th place finish last year at regionals after rounds of 70-66-70, carding an overall four-under-par 206. He went on to tie for ninth at the NCAA Championships with rounds of 69-72-73 for a 214 (+1).
"The goal at every event is to win," said Rodgers, a two-time All-Pac-12 First Team selection. "If I take care of business individually, then it puts us in a great place team-wise."
Last summer Rodgers played a Web.com event on the Scarlet Course on sponsorship exemptions.
"The golf course is demanding off the tee and around the greens," Rodgers, who holds a 70.6 stroke average in 31 rounds of competition, continued. "The rough will be up this time of year making fairways a premium and the greens are large and undulating making lag putting pivotal. We have prepared well for this event and are excited to get going."
Like Rodgers, this is Wilson's second regional. During last year's regional, he tied for 22nd at 209 (-1). Wilson, an All-Pac-12 Second Team selection, enters this tournament with a 71.1 stroke average in 25 rounds of competition and five top-10 finishes, including a tie for second at the Gifford Collegiate where he shot a 61 in the fall.
For Yun, who has had two top-10 finishes on the season, this marks his fourth regional competition. He has played the Scarlet Course about 20 times and the last time he played there was for the 2012 Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational. Yun even played with Rodgers the first two days of that tournament.
"It's been an amazing journey thus far and I'm confident that it will continue for a couple more weeks," said Yun, who holds a 71.8 stroke average in 19 rounds of competition. "Everything that we, as a team, have worked for this year is for this week and the NCAAs. This is the start of the playoffs and this is round one."
"Personally I know that I've grown tremendously in the mental aspect of the game during my college career, and I really need to utilize that this week," Yun continued. "It's a tough course and a tough tournament, and I'm going to be mentally ready for the challenges I'll face."
Yun recorded his best finish at regionals last year after tying for 15th at 207 (-3), and in 2011 he tied for 34th at 222 (+9) but the team did not advance to the championships. In his freshman campaign, he fired a closing round 66 to tie for 19th at even-par 210 and helped the Cardinal capture the regional title.
Kearney qualified for his second regional, competing on the 2011 lineup where he shot the final round team-low 71 (E) to tie for 31st at 221 (+8). The senior has had two top-10 finishes on the season, including a tie for fourth at the Amer Ari Invitational.
Boote, who made the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team, holds a 72.7 stroke average in 31 rounds of competition and has had four top-10 finishes including a tie for third at the Pac-12 Preview.
The last time Stanford competed on the Scarlet Course was for the 1995 NCAA Championships where the team came in second at 1156 and Tiger Woods tied for fifth at 286 (+2).
Since then the Scarlet Course, a great Alister Mackenzie layout, underwent a restoration project in 2005 and 2006 led by Buckeye alum Jack Nicklaus.
"They're forecasting a little bit of breeze and wind here in the Midwest this week so that'll also play a factor," Ray said. "There are a couple of keys to playing well, controlling your golf ball off the tee and hitting a lot of greens in regulation."
According to seed, the 13-team field is New Mexico, Stanford, Auburn, South Carolina, Missouri, UNLV, Texas Tech, Chattanooga, Georgia Southern, San Francisco, Virginia, Charlotte and Valparaiso.
The 10 individuals are Scott Fernandez of Iowa State, Robin Sciot Siegrist of Louisville, Chris Selfridge of Toledo, Charlie Bull of Akron, Adam Schenk of Purdue, Matthew Moseley of Michigan State, Nathan Kerns of Marshall, Erik Von Rooyen of Minnesota, Korey Ward of Xavier, and David Tepe of Cincinnati.
Six 54-hole regional competitions will be conducted with 13 teams and 10 individuals at three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals at The Capital City Club, Crabapple Course hosted by Georgia Tech on May 28-June 2.
Follow @StanfordMGolf on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and quotes from the team. Get to know the players and the program through the daily features at facebook.com/StanfordMensGolf