NCAA Men's Golf Regional
SHSU Misses NCAA Finals By Only Five Strokes
5/17/2014 4:29:00 PM | Men's Golf
The Sam Houston men's golf program has come a long way in two years.
In 2012, the Bearkats finished seventh in the Southland Conference.
Flash forward to May, 2014 and the SHSU golfers have just completed their first trip to the NCAA Regional in 27 seasons at the Division I level.
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| Klein Klotz placed 3rd individually in NCAA regional |
Against a 14-team field that included five top 25 squads and four more in the top 50, Sam Houston finished just five strokes away from earning a trip to the NCAA National Championships next week.
The Bearkats posted a 54-hole score of 300-303-286—899 to finish 11th as a team, ahead top 50 ranked Colorado.
SHSU freshman Klein Klotz fired a six-under final round to end up third in the final individual standings with a 76-71-66—213 total.
Klotz's 66 was the low round of the tournament. He finished just four strokes behind individual medalist regional champion Marco Iten of Austin Peay.
“At the beginning of the year, if you had told me we were going to finish just five shots away from earning a trip to the NCAA National Championships, that would really have been a bonus,” SHSU second-year head coach Brandt Keischnick said.
The coach's Bearkat team earned its berth in the regionals by winning the Southland title for the first time since 1994.
“Winning the Southland and earning NCAA berths is the plan,” Kieschnick said. “I knew we would get good players in here that could perform high. Get in the players in the right mind set and getting the right development is part of the process.”
Sam Houston started the day 10 strokes out of the top five. The Kats cut that margin to five strokes with a 286 final round.
“We knew we had to shoot a low round today and our number three and four guys combined to shoot eight-under,” Kieschnick said. “I'm really proud of this team.”
Klotz started Saturday's final round in 16th place in the individual standings. His final 18 holes got off to a bad start as well.
“I bogied my first hole today, but I didn't get mad,” Klotz said. “I stayed focused and picked up two birdies in the next five holes. Everything seemed to come easier after that.”
Although Klotz bogied one more hole, he ended the day with eight birdies, sinking a six-foot uphill putt on the final hole to move into third place.
“Coming within five strokes on advancing to the national championship tournament really was exciting,” Klotz said. “Albert (Miner) is our only senior and we're bringing in some outstanding young players next year. We're looking to make a habit of coming to regionals.”
Other Bearkat finishes included Zach Cabra 19th (71-75-74—220), Logan Boatner 39th (76-80-70—236), Albert Miner 57th (77-77-76—230) and Andrew Johnson 74th (84-80-79—243).
Although this year's event was SHSU's first team NCAA regional appearance, Bearkats have earned individual at-large regional berths seven times. Klotz's third place finish and 213 total stand as the Bearkats' best NCAA performances ever. Jeff Bellnap was 13th at the 1990 Central Regional. Todd Rossetti fired a 215 total in 1998.
Klotz finished five strokes behind Iten in the competition for the individual at-large berth in the NCAA finals.
Tournament champion Alabama and Kennesaw State, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Texas all advanced from the regional to the finals May 23-25 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas, as the top five teams in tournament. Texas' total of 884 edged sixth-place New Mexico by one stroke.
NCAA AUBURN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 15-17, 2014
Auburn, Ala. - Auburn Country Club (Par 72, 7,254 yards)
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TEAM STANDINGS |
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Rank |
Team |
1R |
2R |
3R |
Total |
|
1 |
Alabama |
287 |
284 |
282 |
853 |
|
2 |
Kennesaw State |
297 |
291 |
287 |
875 |
|
3 |
Auburn |
294 |
292 |
292 |
878 |
|
4 |
Virginia Tech |
301 |
291 |
290 |
882 |
|
5 |
Texas |
293 |
300 |
291 |
884 |
|
6 |
New Mexico |
302 |
295 |
288 |
885 |
|
7 |
No. Carolina-Greensboro |
298 |
296 |
292 |
886 |
|
Brigham Young |
299 |
294 |
293 |
886 |
|
|
9 |
Louisville |
297 |
305 |
286 |
888 |
|
UC-Davis |
300 |
304 |
284 |
888 |
|
|
11 |
SAM HOUSTON |
300 |
303 |
286 |
889 |
|
12 |
Colorado |
296 |
299 |
306 |
901 |
|
13 |
Alabama State |
311 |
303 |
299 |
913 |
|
14 |
Saint John's |
315 |
300 |
303 |
918 |
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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
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|
1 |
Marco Iten, Austin Peay |
71 |
70 |
67 |
208 |
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2 |
Cory Whitsett, Ala. |
71 |
69 |
72 |
212 |
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3 |
KLEIN KLOTZ, SHSU |
76 |
71 |
66 |
213 |
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Tom Lovelady, Alabama |
72 |
71 |
70 |
213 |
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Scott Vincent, Va Tech |
73 |
70 |
70 |
213 |
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SAM HOUSTON SCORES |
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|
3 |
76 |
71 |
66 |
213 |
|
|
19 |
71 |
75 |
74 |
220 |
|
|
39 |
76 |
80 |
70 |
226 |
|
|
57 |
77 |
77 |
76 |
230 |
|
|
74 |
84 |
80 |
79 |
243 |
