Nice Start at Nationals

BLAINE, Wash. (May 19) --- Northeastern State made a good showing in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships Tuesday with a 13-over-par 297 at Loomis Trail Golf Club. After 18 holes, the RiverHawks are in third place in the team standings, four shots behind leaders Barry and Sonoma State, which carded identical scores of nine-over, 293.

Cal State-San Bernardino is fourth at 298, followed by Lynn University in fifth (300). Tied for sixth at 301 are Georgia College and State, top-ranked Columbus State and Grand Canyon, Ferris State is ninth at 303, while the University of Indianapolis, Cal State-Stanislaus and North Alabama round out the top 10 at 308. A total of 20 teams are vying for the NCAA Division II title on the par-71 course.

San Bernardino's Gene Webster had the only sub-par round of the day with a one-under 70 and he leads the individual race after one round. Northeastern State's Sam Powell is tied for second with his even-par 71 with four other players.

The RiverHawks made the turn at +3 with Powell, Jeff Cox and Josh Boswell each at even-par, Blake Walker at three-over and Kevin King at four-over-par. At one point during the back nine, the team got to even after back-to-back birdies from Cox on Nos. 12 and 13, while Powell and King birdied No. 11 and No. 13, respectively. However, things went sour in a hurry as Northeastern State squandered a 10-shot lead.

Cox, a senior, incurred the most damage with a double bogey on the par-3 16th and a quadruple bogey on the par-4 17th to go from one-under to five-over-par. Powell lost a shot also on No. 16 and King dropped four shots with a double on 15 before consecutive bogeys on 16 and 17.

Head coach Scott Varner said the turn of events was almost disastrous.

"First of all, 16, 17 and 18 are very difficult holes, especially in windy conditions like it was today. I told our team we dodged a bullet and we certainly won't be able to do that again," said Varner, whose team is making its second-ever trip to the national tournament. "That's how fast it can happen. You can't give away shots like that with the caliber of great teams who are in this event.

"This is truly a championship golf course. I really don't think we will see many, if any, red numbers because it is very long, high roughs, lots of trees, water and bunkers. It rewards good shots and is punitive when you make bad ones. Any team score under 300 is good and we were able to do that today."

Anything can happen in championship events and that was certainly the case during Tuesday's opening round. Washburn University's Matt Ewald scored a a double-eagle ace on the par-4, No. 14. Also, Concord University was eliminated from team competition after two of its players were disqualified by turning in incorrect scorecards -- one without an attester and the other for signing the card with an incorrect score.

"We fought our guts out today and I was really proud, for the most part, at how we played," said Varner. "Boswell fought like crazy and made some ridiculous up-and-downs to finish two-over-par. Jeff's (Cox) situation was really sad.

"We came here expecting to win the tournament and we led it for the better part of the day while not playing particularly well. This is a marathon and we have always said you can't win the tournament with one good round --- you can lose it --- so I'd say we are where we want to be. It proves you can have a mediocre day like we had today and still be in the mix. We just have to do it again tomorrow, then again Thursday and on Friday."

Play continues with 18 holes each day through May 22. The RiverHawks will be in the afternoon group tomorrow with tee times running from noon-12:40 p.m. Pacific Time. You can follow the tournament by clicking here for Golfstat Live Scoring.