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Marquette Golfers Finish 2007-08 Season at Central Regional
May 17, 2008
Photo Gallery 1
NCAA Central Regional final leaderboard (PDF)
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Windy conditions, tough pin placements and an already challenging Scarlet Course got the best of Marquette University, in addition the other the 26 teams in the field, during the third and final round of competition Saturday at the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Central Regional in Columbus, Ohio. "I would have to say - and I'm sure most of the coaches would probably say the same thing -- it's probably the most challenging day of golf that you'll see in college golf," said MU head coach Tim Grogan. "It was like U.S. Open conditions. A [PGA] Tour player wouldn't have broken par out there today." Three players carded low rounds of one-under par 70, while today's lowest team score belonged to the Cowboys of Oklahoma State, who shot a 13-over 297. Wake Forest won the event with a final tally of 879 (290-287-302). Marquette finished 24th overall with a score of 930 (314-299-317). "I thought the guys battled hard, they were excited about playing and there were times when I thought things could go the other way," said Grogan. "After five or six holes, three or four of the guys were in pretty good position. We knew how high the scores were and we knew we would have had to shoot extraordinarily well, but it's just hard to describe how difficult the course is and the conditions. It just mentally wore the guys down." All-America candidate Mike Van Sickle posted the Golden Eagles' lowest three-round total at 18-over 231. Van Sickle, who carded rounds of 76 and 71 the first two days, was among the top-10 individuals this morning before taking to the first tee box. However, the MU junior scored his highest round of the season with an 84, and he finished tied for 85th. The tournament marks the last event of the season for the Golden Eagles, as only the 10 lowest scoring teams advanced from each of the three regional sites to the NCAA Championship finals, May 27-31, in West Lafayette, Ind. It also marks the final event for senior Michael Bielawski and Ted Gray, who leave the program ranked one and two, respectively, in career rounds played. The top two individuals not already on an advancing team also garnered a berth in the finals. The last spot from Columbus came down to a two-hole playoff won by James Sachek of TCU. Derek Tolan of Colorado also advanced as an individual. "Overall, you look at it and it was a great season for those guys to do what they did," Grogan said of his Golden Eagles. "They have to look at it as a great experience even though we didn't play that well. We're disappointed about that part of it, but being here and playing against some of those top programs is special." Marquette earned its first-ever berth to the NCAA Championships by virtue of winning the BIG EAST Championship in April. It was the school's first BIG EAST title in any team sport and first conference championship for men's golf program. Ted Gray took medalist honors, his first collegiate victory. Additionally, Marquette and Van Sickle each won three events - the fourth, fifth and sixth victories of his collegiate career. The team's number of victories and Van Sickle's total number of career wins are both school records. 2008 NCAA Division I Central Regional
MU Individuals
Team Scores
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