Andrew DiBitetto had four birdies on his way to a -4, 31 on the back nine. |
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Charlotte Three-Under Par After NCAA Regional First Round
May 15, 2008
Chattanooga, Tenn. - The Charlotte 49ers fifth-ranked men's golf team finished the first round of the NCAA East Regional at Council Fire Golf Club tied for 8th-place at three-under par 281. Georgia, one of the 49ers' playing partners in round one, leads the event at 19-under par. The teams battled rainy conditions, especially in the afternoon wave of teams, which included Charlotte's grouping with the Bulldogs and South Carolina (+4).
"When it's like this, it's mostly an irritant," said 49ers head coach Jamie Green of the steady rainfall. "You're playing in extra layers and the umbrella is going up and down. It's a test of your patience. But playing with Georgia, our guys saw that there were good numbers to be had. You're going to have to save pars on days like today and I was really proud of our guys for doing that coming in. Any team that played well this afternoon, my hats off to them. It wasn't brutal (conditions), but it did take patience and quality golf."
Senior Andrew DiBitetto had four birdies and shot a four-under par 31 on the back nine on his way to a two-under par 69. Junior Stefan Wiedergruen made 14 pars and three birdies to join DiBitetto at two-under par, 69. Both players chipped in for birdie on the 10th hole.
"On the back side, I focused on my shots and got into a mode where I just forgot about the weather," DiBitetto said. "I chipped in on 10 and that gave me a jumpstart on the back. It's good to get in one of those modes."
After chipping in for his own birdie on 10, DiBitetto watched Wiedergruen's approach fall in a similar location, short of the green, with about 20 feet of green.
"I wanted to run back down to him and tell him it was an easy chip," DiBitetto added, tongue in cheek. "And sure enough he hits it up and spins it in, too."
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"I'm pretty satisfied with how I played," said Wiedergruen. "It was pretty tough and I didn't hit my driver really well, but I made a couple of up and downs and chipped in once. All in all it was pretty solid."
Charlotte senior Jonas Enander Hedin posted a pair of birdies on the front nine but had two bogeys on the back nine to finish at even-par, 71. Senior Trevor Murphy added a +1, 72, that included four birdies and five bogeys. Sophomore Corey Nagy shot +5, 76 for the 49ers.
"Basically, you have to stay patient," DiBitetto said of the playing conditions. "It's a long day and it's going to be tough. The weather is what it is and you have to deal with it. You just have to be patient and keep giving yourself opportunities. There's plenty of time left."
"It's a 54-hole tournament," Green added. "There are a lot of good teams so you're wasting your time if you are scoreboard watching. You have to take it in stride. You just have to hit your shots and ignore your position, ignore the weather, ignore your own score and focus on hitting shots. If we do that we can score pretty well."
The inclement weather is forecast to clear by midnight, leaving better conditions for Friday's second round. Charlotte is scheduled to go off at 7:00 a.m.
The top 10 teams from the Regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, May 28-31 at Purdue. Charlotte, which is making its fourth straight NCAA Regional appearance has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last two years. Charlotte finished a program-best third at last year's finals.
TEAM RESULTS - 1st Round
1 1 Georgia -19 F -19 265 265 2 Augusta State -11 F -11 273 273 3 SMU -8 F -8 276 276 T4 Middle Tennessee St. -6 F -6 278 278 T4 39 Mississippi St. U. -6 F -6 278 278 6 35 North Carolina State -5 F -5 279 279 7 New Mexico State U. -4 F -4 280 280 T8 33 Virginia Tech -3 F -3 281 281 T8 16 Auburn -3 F -3 281 281 T8 5 Charlotte -3 F -3 281 281T11 Colorado State Univ. -2 F -2 282 282 T11 15 Tennessee-Chattanooga -2 F -2 282 282 13 46 UC-Irvine -1 F -1 283 283 T14 Coastal Carolina +1 F +1 285 285 T14 24 Michigan State +1 F +1 285 285 T14 Western Carolina U. +1 F +1 285 285 T17 12 Duke University +2 F +2 286 286 T17 Virginia, U. of +2 F +2 286 286 T17 21 East Tennessee St. +2 F +2 286 286 T20 41 Georgia State Univ. +3 F +3 287 287 T20 30 UAB +3 F +3 287 287 22 7 South Carolina +4 F +4 288 288 23 Memphis, U. of +5 F +5 289 289 T24 Western Illinois U. +9 F +9 293 293 T24 44 North Florida, U. of +9 F +9 293 293 T24 27 Mississippi, U. of +9 F +9 293 293 27 Jackson State Univ. +18 F +18 302 302
