University of Houston
NCAA Franklin Regional
Men's Golf Advances to NCAA Championships
5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Live Scoring | Final Results | Photos |
|---|
| Team | Rounds | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |||
| 1. | #2 Texas | 268 | 271 | 280 | 819 | -45 |
| 2. | #9 Vanderbilt | 285 | 277 | 268 | 830 | -34 |
| t3. | #35 Houston | 293 | 274 | 272 | 839 | -25 |
| t3. | #14 LSU | 288 | 272 | 279 | 839 | -25 |
| 5. | #26 Virginia | 285 | 271 | 286 | 842 | -22 |
| 6. | #23 Washington | 283 | 280 | 280 | 843 | -21 |
| 7. | #47 Kennesaw State | 283 | 279 | 285 | 846 | -17 |
| 8. | East Carolina | 279 | 289 | 281 | 849 | -15 |
| 9. | #38 Pepperdine | 296 | 286 | 281 | 863 | -1 |
| 10. | Michigan | 303 | 284 | 285 | 872 | +8 |
| 11. | Troy | 305 | 283 | 288 | 876 | +12 |
| 12. | Georgetown | 295 | 289 | 293 | 877 | +13 |
| 13. | UT Martin | 293 | 294 | 291 | 878 | +14 |
| HOUSTON LEADERS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |||
| 1. | Michael Perras | 65 | 69 | 66 | 200 | -16 |
| 17. | Vincent Martino | 73 | 70 | 67 | 210 | -6 |
| t45. | Matt Scobie | 80 | 67 | 70 | 217 | +1 |
| t51. | Blair Hamilton | 78 | 68 | 72 | 218 | +2 |
| t61. | Papito Gonzalez | 77 | 75 | 69 | 221 | +5 |
| OVERALL LEADERS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |||
| 1. | Michael Perras Houston | 65 | 69 | 66 | 200 | -16 |
| t2. | #13 Doug Ghim Texas | 64 | 69 | 69 | 202 | -14 |
| t2. | #48 Ryan Cole James Madison | 69 | 64 | 69 | 202 | -14 |
| 4. | Theo Humphrey Vanderbilt | 70 | 66 | 69 | 205 | -11 |
| 5. | Carl Yuan Washington | 65 | 69 | 72 | 206 | -10 |
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- With another record-setting performance in Wednesday's Final Round, the University of Houston Men's Golf program surged into a tie for third place at the NCAA Franklin Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive season.
A day after tying the program's team low-round record at 274, the Cougars fired the Regional's second-lowest round of the day at 16-under-par 272 to finish with a three-day score of 25-under-par 839 on the 7,190-yard, par-72 course.
Houston recorded a combined 21 birdies and an eagle as a team in the Final Round and endured only five bogeys and a double bogey.
Sophomore Michael Perras captured the individual championship with a score of 16-under-par 200 after posting a bogey-free 66 in Wednesday's Final Round. Perras became the second Cougar in program history to post three straight rounds in the 60s in NCAA Regional play, joining current teammate senior Blair Hamilton (2015 NCAA Lubbock Regional) and joined Hamilton, Brett Callas (2003 Central) and Dean Larsson (1994 Central) as the only Cougars to win NCAA Regional individual titles.
Perras was one of four Cougars to shoot under par in the Final Round with no Cougar shooting higher than par. Competing in his third NCAA Regional, senior Vincent Martino also enjoyed a bogey-free day on the way to a 67, while sophomore Papito Gonzalez overcame a bogey and double bogey on his back nine to shoot a 67.
Competing in his first tournament since October after suffering a foot injury, junior Matt Scobie finished with a 70, while Hamilton drained three birdies on the way to a 72.
"I can't say enough about the guys and what they did. It started with the end of our First Round. We had a good end to our First Round that got us back in touch with the teams in front of us," said Director of Golf Jonathan Dismuke, who will led the Cougars to their third straight NCAA Championships. "It was a great effort by our guys, and it was really fun to watch."
As he has all week, Perras was the Cougars' leader. Starting on No. 10, the Deer Park, Texas, native was steady on his front nine, posting eight pars with a birdie on No. 11. However, the 2016 All-American Athletic Conference performer took off on his back nine.
Perras started his final nine holes with a birdie on No. 1 and followed that with another on the par-3 third hole. After three straight pars, Perras drained three consecutive pars to cap his tournament and finish two strokes ahead of Texas' Doug Ghim and James Madison's Ryan Cole, who advanced to the NCAA Championships as the Regional's individual qualifier.
"Michael has done a great job for us and has shown a tremendous amount of growth from his freshman year to now. He just continues to get better every week," Dismuke said. "He has a great work ethic and knows what he needs to improve his game. From tee to green, he was awesome to watch. Once he got on the greens, he really putted the ball beautifully."
This was Perras' second individual championship in 2015-16 after earning medalist honors at the HBU Husky Intercollegiate in his first tournament of the fall campaign on Sept. 21-22, 2015.
"All parts of my game were pretty good this week. I chipped and putted well," Perras said. "Today, I had some key up and downs for par to keep my round going. I stayed patient. I knew my game was there and caught fire on the back nine and hit some quality shots and made some putts."
Martino was equally impressive in the Final Round and, unlike Perras, did most of his damage on his front nine. The Southlake, Texas, native started Wednesday's play with six straight pars before sinking a birdie on No. 16. He followed that with another birdie on the par-4, 17th hole and then drained an eagle on the par-5 18th.
He started his back nine with three straight pars and added his lone birdie of the back nine on the par-5 fourth hole before wrapping up the regional with five consecutive pars. He surged into 17th with a three-day total of 6-under-par 210 and lowered his score by three strokes with each round.
After struggling with a 75 on Tuesday, Gonzalez stepped up with his low score of the Regional in the Final Round. He posted birdies on No. 11 and No. 13 early in the round and made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2-3 early his back nine.
The McAllen, Texas, native ran into trouble on his back nine with a bogey on the par-5 fourth hole and made double-bogey 6 on the sixth hole. However, he quickly rallied with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7-8 on the way to a 69.
Like Martino, Gonzalez lowered his score with each round and finished in a tie for 61st at 221.
Perras, Martino and Gonzalez became the second Cougar threesome in school history to post scores in the 60s in the same NCAA Regional round, less than one day after Scobie (67), Hamilton (68) and Perras (69) first accomplished the feat in the Second Round.
"One through five, anyone can put up a low score. Every one has each other's back on this team. If one guy struggles, another guy picks up the slack," Gonzalez said. "That's what great about our team. We have a lot of depth and we are going to keep moving forward and keep getting better."
Scobie enjoyed the team's fourth sub-par round Wednesday with a 70. The Ajax, Ontario, native posted his lone birdie of his front nine on No. 17 and added back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7-8. He finished in a tie for 45th at 217.
Hamilton finished the Final Round with a 72 and tied for 51st at 218.
No. 2 Texas won the team championship with a score of 819, while host and ninth-ranked Vanderbilt finished second at 830. The Cougars tied for third with LSU at 839 with No. 26 Virginia claiming the fifth and final qualifying spot out of the Regional for the NCAA Championships with a score of 842.
No. 23 Washington (843), No. 47 Kennesaw State (847), East Carolina (849), No. 38 Pepperdine (863) and Michigan (872) rounded out the top-10 leaders.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will compete in their third straight NCAA Championships on May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club. Houston will join 29 other teams and five individuals in competing for the team and individual national championships.
All teams will play 18 holes each day on May 27-29. At the end of the Third Round, the top 15 teams and top nine individuals not on those teams will advance to the Fourth Round on May 30.
The individual leader at the end of the Fourth Round will be crowned the NCAA individual national champion.
The low eight teams following the Fourth Round advance to match play with the team national championship being awarded June 1
"This is an event that you always want to be part of because it's a special field. You work hard to have this opportunity, and once you get there, anything goes," Dismuke said. "We have had some success at Eugene Country Club in the past. We have a good driving group, which is important for this course. There is a huge premium on hitting the ball in the fairway, and that's something we do really well.
NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
This marked 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 four 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 made his second appearance in NCAA Regional play and enjoys an impressive resume. 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 made their NCAA Regional debuts this week.
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Players Mentioned
