Tennessee golf coach Jim Kelson tried to put on a happy face after his Vols finished their round Tuesday morning.
At times, a smile emerged from a concerned expression.
The Volunteers shot a 9-over-par 297 in the morning round. By the end of the day, they had slipped to a tie for 23rd place and 10 shots out of the elusive eight that make it to weekend match play.
“We had too many double bogeys,” Kelson said. “We got bit a couple of times.”
David Holmes’ even-par round was the best of the day for UT. Garrick Porteous shot 1 over and Robin Windgardh shot 2 over.
Former Baylor School standout Jay Vandeventer had the final counting score of 6 over, and Darren Renwick had the drop score.
“We’re OK,” Kelson said. “We’ve got guys playing well, but we have to get a couple other guys going.”
Holmes started with a birdie on No. 1 and followed with a bogey out of the bunker on No. 2. He parred the remaining 16 holes.
“I’m pretty happy with how I hit it,” Holmes said. “We have two more days left, and we have to make it to the eight.”
Vandeventer was cruising along at 1 under through his first six holes, then shot 5 over during his next four including double bogeys on Nos. 7 and 9.
“We’re right there,” Vandeventer said. “We had three good rounds today and two poor rounds.”
Surf’s up
San Diego sophomore Alex Ching had such a poor fall season, including finishing dead last in a tournament, that he put his clubs away in a closet. He pulled out a tennis racket and a surfboard.
He eventually returned to golf and was among tied for third place Tuesday at 69.
The native of Hawaii spent much of his winter down time concentrating on his surfing, a sport he picked up as a kid living a block from Toes Beach, in the colder waves off Mission Beach in San Diego.
“I love to go out there,” said the two-time state tennis champion. “I enjoy riding the waves.”
He had a smooth ride around The Honors Course, making four birdies and one bogey in leading San Diego to a 6-over day.
“It’s exactly what we need,” said SDU coach Tim Mickelson, younger brother of Phil. “Notoriously, our first round has been the worst and our last round is our best. That’s definitely something we’ll mention tonight.”
Unsightly finish
Clemson’s Luke Hopkins had the round of the day until he stepped to the 18th tee box.
Hopkins was at 5 under, on pace for the course record set first by Tiger Woods in 1996, but made a double bogey.
Hopkins pulled his tee shot left into the rough. Then he didn’t reach the green because of trees. He chipped and three-putted for a 6 on the par-4.
“I can’t really complain too much because I putted fantastic today,” Hopkins said. “I hit my driver well and kept it in play and made putts here and there.”
Tough start
The beginning of Arizona State’s round couldn’t have gone much worse, yet the Sun Devils are near the top of the leaderboard.
Starting their round at 7:20 a.m. at No. 10, four of the five Sun Devils shot bogey or worse on the soggy, 490-yard par-4. Braxton Marquez, ASU’s second player to tee off, posted an 8, and as a team the Sun Devils were 7 over par after one hole.
“It’s a tough drive and it’s long,” said ASU’s Scott Pinckney, who bogeyed the 10th and shot a 2-over 74.
ASU coach Randy Lein, who directed the Sun Devils to the national championship in 1996 at the Honors, said No. 10 is a difficult place to start a round, and No. 11 (a 590-yard par-5) isn’t any easier.
“First thing in the morning, 490 — that gets your attention,” he said. “It’s a good hole. You’ve got to play good golf and you’d certainly rather open up with something a little softer — and then No. 11, with the new tee, you’ve got 590, so it gets your attention real quick.”
Pinckney bogeyed his first three holes. The Sun Devils, led by Jesper Kennegard’s 68, which tied for the low round of the day, made enough birdies to overcome their bogeys and shot 1 under, good enough for a tie for fifth in the team standings.
“We’re making birdies, which is good, and we closed strong,” Lein said. “We had three birdies on the last hole (No. 9). That’s what, as a coach, you want to see, them not quitting and grinding away until it’s all over. I’m very proud of the guys and happy with an opening round under par.”
Throughout the morning, No. 10 played as the hardest hole with a stroke average of close to 4.6. By the end of the day, it was the second-hardest at 4.42, just behind the 475-yard par-4 15th (4.46).
SoCon banner
Three Southern Conference teams earned bids to NCAA regionals, but only Georgia Southern advanced to The Honors Course. The Eagles got a good round Tuesday from Spencer Fulford, who shot a 1-under 71, but overall the day was difficult. GSU shot a combined 9-over 297, tied with Tennessee for 23rd place.
Fulford, who was 2 over after three holes, said it was “extremely important” for the Eagles to play well and demonstrate the strength of the SoCon. He also said it would be nice to shine in rival UTC’s back yard since the Mocs “usually beat up on us every year.”
This and that
UTC coach Mark Guhne and Mocs golfer Stephan Jaeger spent time at the Honors on Tuesday, though it wasn’t easy to be there as just a spectator, Guhne said. “It is tough because we’ve got some really good players … and we just didn’t play good at the end of the year.” … The easiest hole of the day was the 560-yard par-5 No. 2, which gave up two eagles, 48 birdies and averaged 4.83 shots.