Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
NCAA Regional Championship
Second Day Struggles Sees Ross Slip to 45th at NCAA Regional
5/15/2009 7:06:58 PM | Men's Golf
Dundas, Ontario native battling for NCAA Championship berth
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STILLWATER, Okla. – Eastern Michigan University senior Christopher Ross (Dundas, Ontario-Parkside) slipped from 41st into a tie for 45th after the second round 2009 NCAA Men's Golf South Central Regional Friday, May 15, at the par 72, 7,407-yard Karsten Creek Golf Course.
Competing as an individual, Ross recorded a score of 80, his highest 18-hole total this season, and is 13-over par 157 (77-80) for the tournament. Ross struggled to get it going all day long, starting the day with a bogy to finish the first nine at two-over. He began his back nine with back-to-back pars, but then went a combined five-over on the third, fourth and fifth holes. Three more pars followed before another bogy capped Ross' day.
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the NCAA Championship, May 26-30, at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Ross, a 2009 All-Mid-American Conference first team section, is scheduled to tee off hole No. 10 at 8:50 a.m. CST Saturday, May 16, in the final round in the regional competition.
The host Cowboys of Oklahoma State are the team leader after round one at 585 (296-289). Wichita State's Connor McHenr and OSU's Peter Uihlein are tied for the individual leader after 36 holes with a 142.
The Eagles have had a presence in the NCAA Division I regional in five straight years. The Eagles qualified as a team in both 2007 and 2008 as MAC champions while former Eagles' standout Korey Mahoney qualified as an individual the previous two seasons. Overall, Ross is just the fourth EMU student-athlete to ever earn an at-large berth to the NCAAs. Bob McNiff qualified for the event in 1985, while Marc Dingman made back-to-back appearances in the 1981 and 1982 championships. The three regional qualifier setup began in 1993, prior to that student-athletes advanced directly to the NCAA Championships.
Ross is returning to the NCAAs for the third consecutive season, after finishing 41st with a 226 (78-71-77) at the 2008 Central Regional Championship in Columbus, Ohio. In 2007, Ross tied for 78th with a 228 (75-78-75) at the NCAA East Regional held at the Golf Club of Georgia.
Top 10 Individual Results:
Pl. Player Scores
t-1. Connor McHenry, Wichita State 73-69=142
t-1. Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State 72-70=142
3. Stephan Jaeger, UT-Chattanooga 73-70=143
4. Ben Rickett, UT-Chattanooga 72-73=145
t-5. Tom Hoge, TCU 73-73=146
t-5. Espen Kofstad, Denver 75-71=146
t-5. Andrew Loupe, LSU 72-74=146
t-5. John Peterson, LSU 70-76=146
t-5. Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State 74-72=146
t-10. Josh Anderson, Pepperdine 75-72=147
t-10. Eric Chun, Northwestern 74-73=147
t-10. Cody Paladino, Baylor 74-73=147
t-10. Ethan Tracy, Arkansas 71-76=147
t-45. Christopher Ross, EMU 77-80=157
Team Scores:
Pl. Team Scores
1. No. 4 Oklahoma State 296-289=585
2. No. 28 UT-Chattanooga 298-300=598
3. No. 9 Arkansas 298-301=599
4. Northwestern 302-301=603
5. No. 21 LSU 298-307=605
6. Wichita State 306-302=608
t-7. No. 46 Baylor 301-308=609
t-7. No. 16 TCU 299-310=609
9. No. 33 Pepperdine 302-315=617
10. Tulsa 299-320=619
11. Denver 312-309=621
12. No. 40 Michigan State 306-319=625
13. Oral Roberts 319-325=644
