Carlsbad, Calif. – Hiroshi Tai fired a 5-under-par 67 to take the opening-round lead, and Georgia Tech posted a 4-over-par 292 total Friday to grab fourth place after the first 18 holes of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at the Omni LaCosta Resort and Spa.
Tai birdied seven holes over the par-72 North Course Friday, including five in a six-hole stretch in the middle of his round, and his birdie at the finishing ninth hole gave the Tech sophomore from Singapore the lead to himself after 18 holes. Meanwhile, senior Christo Lamprecht shot 2-under-par 70 and is tied for fifth place. The 13th-seeded Yellow Jackets sit just two strokes off the pace set by Virginia and Arizona, each of whom posted 2-over-par rounds of 290.
“We all know the course is really tough, you have to hit good tee shots to good spots and there are hazards that come into play on different holes,” said Tai. “We figured out yesterday what holes we could try and be more aggressive and which holes that par is good on those holes. I pretty much stuck with it all day and didn’t change.”
Round 2 gets underway at 9:40 a.m. EDT Saturday morning, with Tech teeing off at 11:30 a.m. (1st hole), again paired with No. 14 seed East Tennessee State and No. 15 seed California. Tee times and pairings for the remaining rounds of stroke play will be determined by team position on the leaderboard.
Thirty teams will play 54 holes Friday through Sunday, with the field cut to 15 teams for the final round of stroke play Monday, after which the individual champion will be crowned. The top eight teams after 72 holes will advance to a match play bracket to determine the team champion.
Highlights from round 1 at NCAA Championship
TECH LINEUP – Tech took advantage of playing a par-5 to start its round, with Tai, Kale Fontenot and Bartley Forrester all making birdie at the 10th hole to position the Yellow Jackets near the top from the start. The Jackets wound up 6-under-par on the par-5 holes Friday, tied with Auburn and Ohio State for the best of the day, and accumulated 15 birdies, one shy of the high for the field.
Tai found a groove as he came to the finishing holes on the back nine, posting birdies at 17, 18, 1, 2 and 4 to move to the top of the leaderboard.
“I put a good swing on the tee shots and put myself in good spots in the fairway,” he explained. “I had wedge shots on 17,1, 2 and 4 and hit those pretty good, so it worked out nicely.”
After ending the run with a…
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