East Carolina University
NCAA Regional
Pirates Remain In Contention At NCAA Regional
May 20, 2011 | Men's Golf
May 20, 2011
RADFORD, Va. - The East Carolina men's golf team concluded the second round of play at the 2011 NCAA East Regional at the par 72, 7,685-yard Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech in ninth-place.
The Pirates carded a 16-over 302 in the second round to fall from eighth-place after shooting 14-over 304 in the opening round to complete the first 36 holes at 30-over 606. ECU trails No. 10 LSU by 10 strokes for the fifth and final NCAA Championship qualifying slot from the regional.
The top five teams and the top student-athlete not on one of those teams will advance to the finals in Stillwater, Okla., May 29-June 5.
East Carolina trails clubhouse leader Georgia Tech by 24 strokes. The fourth-ranked Yellow Jackets have a two-round cumulative team tally of six-over 582 (289-293). Sixteenth-ranked Duke is in second-place overall after two rounds at nine-over 585 (295-290). Oklahoma is in third-place at 12-over 588 (296-282), followed by Kent State at 16-over 592 (296-296) and LSU at 20-over 596 (305-291) to round out the top-5.
ECU junior Harold Varner moved up from 15th into a tie for 10th in the second round with an even-par 72. Varner's two round score of 146 (74-72) ties him with Julian Suri of Duke, but more importantly leaves him just five strokes off the individual lead, which is currently held by Oklahoma's Abraham Ancer and Georgia Tech's Kyle Scott, and three strokes out of the lone individual qualifying spot, occupied by UNC Wilmington's Josh Brock after 36 holes.
Scott opened with a 68 in the first round, but fired a 73 in round two to allow Ancer to move into a first-place tie by shooting 70 on Friday. Ancer began round two alone in second-place, trailing Scott by two strokes. The co-leaders are tied at three-under 141 with nine players within five shots of the overall lead.
David Watkins is the only other Pirate currently in the top 25 individually. Watkins' two-day total of three-over 145 (74-75) has him tied for 22nd.
Pirate red-shirt freshman Ryan Eibner is tied for 52nd at 10-over 154 (76-78) with junior Adam Stephenson following behind at 13-over 157 (78-79) and Jake Colley at 17-over 161 (80-81).
The third and final round of the 2011 NCAA East Regional will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 21. The Pirates will tee off on hole No. 10 at 7:30 alongside Virginia and Virginia Tech.
