NCAA Championships Notebook: Texas Tech Deja Vu?
May 30, 2015 | Men's Golf
The 18th hole at sunset during the first round of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla. (Photo by John Weast)
By Travis Cram / Texas Tech Athletics Communications
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Texas Tech head coach Greg Sands had the perfect attitude with his team last night following the Red Raiders' first round at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships on Friday.
Tech fired a 16-over 294 and sits in 26th place - far from the spot it would like to be in heading into Saturday's second round, but Sands said it wasn't about the way the team played.
"We did not score well," Sands said. "But I do think we played well enough to do so. Unfortunately, the score does not reflect that. But that's golf sometimes. To be a champion, you have to battle back from some bad scores. I think the golf is there, just hopefully the scoring is there tomorrow."
If it's anything the Tech men can learn from last week's women's tournament it's that the second round can help improve a team's standing at The Concession Golf Club right away.
The Lady Raiders fired the second-to-highest score in the first round (+31, 319) to drop to a tie for 23rd before shooting a round two-best 294 (+6) in the second round to move up 14 spots to ninth before the all-important third round.
Sands will be hoping his guys can do the same on Saturday, but more than anything, just wants his group to play it's brand of golf.
"I think we're going to focus in on our execution and what we're doing and not let the (top) eight get in the way," Sands said. "I think if we can clean up our commitments, clean up the things that we can control, then hopefully we'll play good enough."
INSIDE THE STATS
Texas Tech's player average was a little more than 4-over par (76.8) for the first round with a low, 2-over 74 from Clement Sordet and high, 7-over 79 from Mito Pereira.
That was just above the 74.4 player average from counting scorecards in the field on Friday. Two players fired 4-under 68s in the afternoon group - Thomas Detry from Illinois and Claudio Correa from South Florida - while Duke's Motin Yeung recorded the highest round with a 16-over 88 in the morning group.
Duke, who sits in 13th place after a 9-over 297, recorded both the lowest round of the morning (69) and highest round (88) on Friday.
There was a slight difference in average scoring between the morning and afternoon waves - which can sometimes make a bigger difference in tournaments depending on the weather. The AM groups averaged an 8-over 296 while the PM groups averaged an 11-over 299. Illinois was the only team under par, shooting a 2-under 286 in the afternoon following Georgia's even par 288 that morning.
Tech will get to tee off beginning at 7:50 AM ET on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see if the experience and earlier tee time has any effect with weather expected in the area that afternoon that could disrupt play.
SHOT OF THE DAY: Matias Dominguez, 15TH HOLE
Texas Tech senior Matias Dominguez showed his veteran poise early on Friday during the first round.
After a solid 1-under start with two birdies in his first five holes, the Latin America Amateur champion pulled his drive left off the tee on No. 15 into the natural vegetation that surround The Concession Golf Club.The ball was located underneath one of the large plants, giving Dominguez just enough room to try and give it a go. His window - about a 3-foot spot above two branches 8 feet in front of him to get back into the fairway of the tough, par 4.
Dominguez popped the ball just enough to clear the rest of the vegetation and roll into the right side of the fairway. He hit his approach just past the pin on the backside of the green and walked away with a bogey, 5.
It could have been much worse - just ask Oklahoma's Michael Gellerman. He recorded an 11 on the par-5 7th and then a 9 on the par-4, 8th on Friday.
SCORECARD COUNT
Texas Tech
Birdies: 14
Pars: 53
Bogeys: 11
Double Bogeys: 10
Other: 2
Best Hole: No. 3 (580-yard, Par 5) - 2 birdies, 3 pars (2-under par).
Worst Hole: No. 8 (377-yard, Par 4) - 3 double bogeys, 1 bogey, 1 par (7-over par).
