Beavers Tied For Seventh At NCAA Regional; Moore In Second

May 19, 2011

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Oregon State men's golf team had a strong back nine in the first round at the NCAA Men's Golf Arizona Regional on Thursday and sits in a tie for seventh place, while junior Alex Moore continued his red-hot play with a 5-under 66 and is tied for second.

The Beavers were 10-over going out in the morning but fired a 10-under on the back nine to finish with an even-par 284 at the par-71, 7,199-yard Omni Tucson National Golf Resort. The top five teams after the three-day, 54-hole tournament concludes on Saturday will advance to the NCAA Championships at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla., from May 31 to June 5.

"It was pretty miserable on the front nine and we didn't do anything right," Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. "Alex is the only one with regional experience so maybe they were feeling a little nervous on the front nine. They probably felt like they were playing scared and decided they needed to play better and they did it. The back nine was fun to watch. We finally started making some putts and now we have a chance. There is still a lot of golf to be played, but we have to go get it and can't be scared."

Moore, who tied for medalist honors at the Pac-10 Championships three weeks ago before falling on the seventh hole of a sudden-death playoff, trails only Matt Hansen of UC Davis who fired a 7-under 64. Moore shot a 1-under 34 on the front nine with two birdies and a bogey, before eagling the par-5 10th and adding birdies on the par-3 12th and par-5 15th for a 4-under coming in.

"Alex was awesome," Reehoorn said. "He's continuing to show everyone that he is one of the best players on the West Coast and it's cool to see. He's playing with a lot of confidence and I expect him to keep it going. We just need the rest of the team to get it going."

Sophomore Nick Sherwood and freshman David Fink each shot a 3-under 33 on the back nine and finished with an even-par 71 and 1-over 72, respectively. Junior Casey King shot an even-par 36 on the backside after opening with a 4-over 39 on the front to finish with a 4-over 75.

"Nick said he wasn't playing that badly on the front nine and he got it going on the back nine with a couple of early birdies and a couple of long putts," Reehoorn said. "David plays better when he's angry, and he was angry after the front nine, so I need to find a way to make him mad before tomorrow's round. Casey is playing in his first regional and hopefully he gained some confidence after playing well on the back nine."

Sherwood had five birdies and five bogies and is tied for 18th overall, while Fink had all three of his birdies on the back nine after recording all four of his bogies on the front side and is tied for 30th. King is tied for 53rd and junior Jonnie Motomochi is tied for 63rd after a 6-over 77.

The Beavers are only three strokes out of fifth place and just six back of tournament leader San Diego State, which finished with a 6-under 278. Washington is a stroke back of the Aztecs with a 279, while Liberty is third at 280, Arizona and Texas A&M are tied for fourth at 281 and Texas Tech is sixth with a 283. Pepperdine, which was paired with the Beavers in the opening round, also finished with an even-par 284.

The second round begins at 8 a.m. on Friday and live scoring will be available at golfstat.com. Tournament recaps, results and post-round notes and quotes also can be found at arizonawildcats.com.

Team Scores: 1. San Diego State 278 (-6); 2. Washington 279 (-5); 3. Liberty 280 (-4); t4. Arizona 281 (-3); t4. Texas A&M 281 (-3); 6. Texas Tech 283 (-1); t7. Oregon State 284 (E); t7. Pepperdine 284 (E); 9. California 286 (+2); 10. UC Davis 287 (+3); 11. Purdue 290 (+6); 12. UT-Arlington 294 (+10); 13. Army 302 (+18); 14. Loyola-Maryland 310 (+26).

Top Individual Scores: 1.Matt Hansen, UC Davis 64 (-7); 2. Alex Moore, Oregon State 66 (-5); t3. Preston Dembowiak, Liberty 67 (-4); t3. Nils Floren, Texas Tech 67 (-4); t3. Tarquin MacManus, Arizona 67 (-4); t6. Colin Featherstone, San Diego State 68 (-3); t6. Alex Kang, San Diego State 68 (-3); t6. Kevin Spooner, Washington 68 (-3); t9. Tze Huang Choo, Washington 69 (-2); t9. John Hurley, Texas A&M 69 (-2); t9. Gustaf Kocken, Louisiana-Monroe 69 (-2); t9. Jordan Russell, Texas A&M 69 (-2).

Oregon State Scores: 2. Alex Moore 66 (-5); t18. Nick Sherwood 71 (E); t30. David Fink 72 (+1); t53. Casey King 75 (+4); t63. Jonnie Motomochi 77 (+6).

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