Franklin Shoots 71 Again At NCAA Regionals
BREMERTON, Wash. – Alex Franklin fired a 1-under 71 for the second straight day at the NCAA Division I Men‘s Golf West Regional Championships on Friday to remain in position for a berth to the NCAA National Championships.
Franklin had four birdies in the second round, one more than he had on the opening day, at the par-72, 7,115-yard Gold Mountain Golf Club, Olympic Course and is tied for 15th place in a field that features 14 teams and five individuals.
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the NCAA National Championships, which will be conducted May 29-June 3 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.
Franklin is currently fourth among players gunning for the lone individual spot but has put himself in position with a pair of sub-par rounds at the regionals.
The final round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday with tee times off the first and 10th holes. Franklin will start at 9:53 a.m. off the 10th hole and be paired with Joey Krecic of Cleveland State and Matthew Swanson of South Dakota.
LIVE on #Periscope: NCAA Bremerton Regional Alex Franklin - 18th hole https://t.co/4MCUvsOGKv
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There was heavy fog in the area that backed up play in the second round for more than 45 minutes. After the delay, Franklin started on the 10th hole and dropped in a birdie out of the gate for the second straight day, this time on a 378-yard par 4. He got a par on 11 and a bogey on the tough par-3, 251-yard 12th before carding six straight pars for an even 36 at the turn.
Franklin, a senior from San Rafael, Calif., opened his back nine with two straight pars but took a bogey on the 481-yard par-4 third hole. He bounced back with a par on four and back-to-back birdies on the par-3, 159-yard fifth and par-5, 563-yard sixth holes to get to 1 under on the day.
He got a par on his 16th hole of the day, a bogey on the par-3 eighth and a birdie on the par-5 ninth to finish the round in red figures for the second consecutive day.
Cheng-Tsung Pan of Washington leads the field with an 8-under 67-69--136 and has himself in position for the individual spot with the Huskies sitting in seventh place and four strokes out of one of the top five spots for an automatic team bid.
