University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
NCAA Franklin Regional
Perras Leads MGolf at NCAA Regional
5/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Live Scoring | First-Round Results | Photos |
|---|
| Team | Rounds | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |||
| 1. | #2 Texas | 268 | 268 | -20 | ||
| 2. | East Carolina | 279 | 279 | -9 | ||
| t3. | #23 Washington | 283 | 283 | -5 | ||
| t3. | #47 Kennesaw State | 283 | 283 | -5 | ||
| t5. | #9 Vanderbilt | 285 | 285 | -3 | ||
| t5. | #26 Virginia | 285 | 285 | -3 | ||
| 7. | #14 LSU | 288 | 288 | E | ||
| t8. | Houston | 293 | 293 | +5 | ||
| t8. | UT Martin | 293 | 293 | +5 | ||
| 10. | Georgetown | 295 | 295 | +7 | ||
| 11. | #38 Pepperdine | 296 | 296 | +8 | ||
| 12. | Michigan | 303 | 303 | +15 | ||
| 13. | Troy | 305 | 305 | +17 | ||
| HOUSTON LEADERS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |||
| t2. | Michael Perras | 65 | 65 | -7 | ||
| t32. | Vincent Martino | 73 | 73 | +1 | ||
| t60. | Papito Gonzalez | 77 | 77 | +5 | ||
| t68. | Blair Hamilton | 78 | 78 | +6 | ||
| t73. | Matt Scobie | 80 | 80 | +8 | ||
| OVERALL LEADERS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |||
| 1. | #13 Doug Ghim Texas | 64 | 64 | -8 | ||
| t2. | Michael Perras Houston | 65 | 65 | -7 | ||
| t2. | #Carl Yuan Washington | 65 | 65 | -7 | ||
| t2. | Taylor Funk Texas | 65 | 65 | -7 | ||
| 5. | Patrick Cover UNC Wilmington | 67 | 67 | -5 | ||
FRANKLIN, Tenn. â€" Thanks to a record-setting round from sophomore Michael Perras, the University of Houston Men's Golf program stood in a tie for eighth Monday following the First Round of the NCAA Franklin Regional at Vanderbilt Legends Club.
Perras, who was recently named to the All-American Athletic Conference Team for the first time in his career, fired a 65 in Monday's play and was tied for second with Washington's Carl Yuan and Texas' Taylor Funk.
The Deer Park, Texas, native set a school record for low round in NCAA Regional play, topping the previous best of 66 by Kyle Pilgrim in the First Round at the NCAA Lubbock Regional on May 14, 2015, and by Curtis Reed in the First Round at the NCAA Athens Regional on May 17, 2012.
Starting on No. 10 and making his debut in NCAA Regional play, Perras put his round off on the right foot with back-to-back birdies. After making par on No. 12, he suffered a bogey on the par-4 13th hole. However, that would be the only blemish on his scorecard.
Following four straight pars, Perras closed out his front nine with a birdie on No. 18 and then opened his back nine the same he started his front nine… with a birdie.
Perras added another birdie on No 4 and then sank an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole before draining his sixth and final birdie of the day on No. 8.
"You cannot overstate the importance of that round," said Director of Golf Jonathan Dismuke, who is in his seventh season with the Cougars. "Without that low round, we wouldn't be in touch with some of the teams ahead of us. That round pulled us out of the gutter."
"I managed my game well. Even when I hit a bad shot. I put it in a good place where I was able to pay the hole," Perras said. "I made a bunch of putts that really kept me going and gave me a lot of confidence and brought up my ball striking."
Texas' Doug Ghim stood atop the individual leaderboard with a 64.
No. 2 Texas held the First-Round lead at 268 to stand 11 strokes ahead of East Carolina at 279. No. 23 Washington and No. 47 Kennesaw State were tied for third at 283, while No. 9 Vanderbilt and No. 26 Virginia were tied for fourth at 285. No. 14 LSU stood in seventh at 288.
The Cougars were tied with UT Martin at eighth with Georgetown (295), No. 38 Pepperdine (296), Michigan (303) and Troy (305) rounding out the field.
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each Regional advance to the NCAA Championships to be played May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. Houston has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last two seasons.
Houston overcame a slow start that saw it play its first nine holes at 9-over-par with two triple bogeys and three double bogeys. However, the team rallied on its back nine, sinking nine birdies and playing the final nine holes at -2, led by Perras' 31.
"We came out really tentative and didn't put a good foot forward. We made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of tentative swings early, but we did a good job on our last nine holes of fighting back," Dismuke said "We have a resilient bunch of guys. I expect us to put a better foot forward Tuesday."
SECOND-ROUND PAIRINGS
The 3-day, 54-hole tournament will be played with 18 holes each day. For Tuesday's Second Round, the Cougars will compete in threesomes with student-athletes from LSU and UT Martin and start off No. 10.
Scobie will start the day at 8 a.m., with Hamilton (8:11 a.m.), Gonzalez (8:22 a.m.), Martino (8:33 a.m.) and Perras (8:44 a.m.) following.
Admission is free, and the public is invited to attend. Fans can follow live scoring by visiting golfstat.com and following the appropriate links or by clicking here.
NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
This marks the 19th time the Cougars competed in NCAA Regional play as a team with four individual appearances during their history. During that time, Houston has enjoyed one NCAA Regional team championship (1998 Central) and three individual titles.
A year ago, the Cougars earned the No. 6 seed at the NCAA Lubbock Regional. Tied after 54 holes, Houston defeated Purdue in a 1-hole team playoff to earn the fifth and final spot and advance to the NCAA Championships for the second straight season.
COUGARS in NCAA REGIONAL PLAY
Hamilton is making his second appearance in NCAA Regional play and enjoys the most impressive resume among the current Cougars. Posting a score of 8-under-par 205, Hamilton finished as the 2015 NCAA Lubbock Regional co-champion, becoming only the third Cougars to win an NCAA Regional individual title.
With scores of 68-69-68, he also became the first Cougar in school history to post three consecutive rounds in the 60s in NCAA Regional competition.
Martino made his third appearance in NCAA Regionals this week. He tied for 30th with a score of 227 at the 2013 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional and tied for 22nd at the NCAA Lubbock Regional a year ago.
Perras, Scobie and Gonzalez are making their NCAA Regional debuts this week.
UP NEXT
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each Regional after Wednesday's Final Round advance to the NCAA Championships to be played May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarGolf on Twitter and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at HoustonCougarGolf.
Players Mentioned
