DEARBORN, Mich. -- After sitting in ninth place at the end of the second round, Georgia Southwestern ended the final round of stroke play tied for seventh place advancing them to their second straight quarterfinal appearance. An already tight field grew even tighter on Wednesday with course conditions becoming less than favorable for much of the afternoon. The back-nine proved key for the teams in contention with many golfers struggling at the end of their rounds.
The final five holes have been the most challenging for golfers this tournament and Wednesday's final round was much of the same, the Hurricanes looked to be in prime position to move on to the quarterfinals before the Hurricanes made it to the final five holes. The Hurricanes began to drop down the leaderboard falling all the way to ninth, one stroke behind eighth place in danger of not advancing to the next round. As the final three teams headed to the last five holes the Hurricanes could only watch and hope for a spot in the next round.
Teams at the top of the leaderboard began to drop down just as the Hurricanes had done earlier in the afternoon with the final five holes continuing to prove its difficulty. Coming up on the final hole of the day the Hurricanes sat in a three-way tie for the final two spots in the quarterfinals with defending national champion, Arkansas Tech, and the clubhouse leader after the first two rounds, the University of Indianapolis. Arkansas Tech would manage a par on their last hole, while the University of Indianapolis would drop a stroke on the 18th hole to propel the Hurricanes and Arkansas Tech into tomorrow's quarterfinals.
Simon Estrada led the way for GSW overall with a three-over-par 75 on Wednesday, finishing stroke play tied for ninth at four-over-par. Estrada was consistent all three rounds and battled the tough conditions on Wednesday to secure a top 10 finish. Nicolas Escobar climbed five spots in the overall individual standings and finished tied for 19th following his 75 on Wednesday. Tharrington was a bright spot on a tough day for many of the participants, Tharrington gained 13 spots on Wednesday shooting a team best two-over-par. Jack Tharrington and Nicolas Escobar carded scores of 74 and 75 and both carried the Hurricanes to the finish line carding staying out of trouble for the most part on a tough back-nine in unfavorable conditions. Erik Fogel finished tied for 51st shooting a 78 on Wednesday. Chase McLain had a solid outing heading into match play tying for second best on the team with a three-over-par on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes will take on CSU-Pueblo tomorrow morning beginning at 7:30am in match-play for a chance to advance to the national semifinals.
Live scoring for the tournament can be found here.
For a quick look at how the 'Canes have done so far this season, click here.
For more updates on the GSW golf team follow them on Twitter or Instagram at @GSW_Golf.
2022 NCAA DIVISION II NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - TEAM SCORES
Pos |
|
Team | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 | Rd. 3 | Total | +/- |
1 | ↑2 | Central Missouri (18) | 300 | 292 | 298 | 890 | +26 |
T2 | ↑1 | Colorado State - Pueblo (23) | 295 | 297 | 301 | 893 | +29 |
T2 | ↑8 | Lee (3) | 301 | 297 | 295 | 893 | +29 |
4 | ↑3 | Oklahoma Christian (7) | 296 | 300 | 298 | 894 | +30 |
T5 | ↑6 | Missouri - St. Louis (35) | 304 | 298 | 293 | 895 | +31 |
T5 | Barry (1) | 290 | 303 | 302 | 895 | +31 | |
T7 | ↑2 | Georgia Southwestern (9) | 298 | 299 | 299 | 896 | +32 |
T7 | ↓5 | Arkansas Tech (2) | 297 | 294 | 305 | 896 | +32 |
The top eight teams advance | |||||||
9 | ↓8 | Indianapolis (25) | 288 | 302 | 307 | 897 | +33 |
10 | ↓4 | Florida Southern (12) | 299 | 295 | 311 | 905 | +41 |
11 | ↑2 | North Georgia (4) | 304 | 309 | 295 | 908 | +44 |
T12 | Limestone (8) | 305 | 299 | 311 | 915 | +51 | |
T12 | ↑2 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 308 | 306 | 301 | 915 | +51 |
14 | Findlay (29) | 305 | 309 | 302 | 916 | +52 | |
15 | ↑8 | Midwestern State (15) | 306 | 290 | 322 | 918 | +54 |
16 | ↓2 | Grand Valley State (31) | 305 | 309 | 305 | 919 | +55 |
17 | ↓1↑1 | Davis & Elkins College | 309 | 312 | 301 | 922 | +58 |
18 | ↓1 | Colorado Mesa | 311 | 309 | 304 | 924 | +60 |
19 | Gannon | 328 | 304 | 309 | 941 | +77 | |
20 | Charleston | 320 | 317 | 323 | 960 | +96 | |
( ) - NCAA Division II Golfstat computer ranking |
GSW SCORES
Place | Player | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 |
Rd. 3 | Total | +/- | |
T9 | Simon Estrada | 73 | 72 | 75 | 220 | +4 | |
T19 | ↑5 | Nicolas Escobar | 73 | 76 | 75 | 224 | +8 |
T24 | ↑13 | Jack Tharrington | 75 | 76 | 74 | 225 | +9 |
T51 | ↓5 | Erik Fogel | 77 | 75 | 78 | 230 | +14 |
T70 | ↑13 | Chase McLain | 80 | 79 | 75 | 234 | +18 |