In their first NCAA appearance over three days in Las Vegas, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats coached by former PGA Tour pro Doug Martin failed to qualify for the upcoming NCAA finals. Playing in Las Vegas, their first experience with desert golf, the Bearcats finished eighth of the 13 teams that qualified.
Ranked No. 40 in the country by Golfstat, the Bearcats shot rounds of 277, 280 and 278 to finish at 835 and 29-under. Unfortunately, that was 30 shots off the lead and 14 from making the top five.
The tournament was played at the 7,217-yard par 72 Bear’s Best, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course. Familiar with such conditions, No. 4 Arizona State won the NCAA sectional at -59, followed by No. 8 Stanford at -57. No. 16-ranked Virginia was third at -49 with No. 45 San Francisco taking fourth at -45. Northwestern and East Tennessee State both finished at -43 with the Wildcats winning the fifth and final qualifying spot to secure a spot in the NCAA finals. The five qualifying teams will be joined by 25 other qualifiers from other NCAA sectionals.
Day one (Monday)
UC was tied for eighth place at 11 under after their first day. Three players were under par led by Ty Gingerich with a six-under 66. Freshman Ryan Ford carded a 68 with senior Sam Jean at 69.
Day two (Tuesday)
Tuesday brought a three-hour lightning delay that hurt the Bearcats. They were 12-under through the first nine holes but after the long wait came back to haunt them as they went two over on the back nine.
“The three-hour weather delay was one of those situations where I looked at (assistant) Austin Frick and asked ‘When was the last time we had a delay that took us off the golf course?'” Martin said. three freshmen out there and it was a learning experience for them.’
Jean led day two at 5-under 67, while on his 19th birthday, Ford had a 69 and freshman Rylan Wotherspoon jumped up to 68 after a first-day 74.
Day three (Wednesday)
The final day again saw a lightning delay, this time between 11:15 am and 12:46 Pacific time. Martin thought his men needed to be 20-under to have a chance. Instead, they were 10 strokes off that goal.
Jean came back again with the top UC round of 67 and finished the three-day event tied for ninth at -13. Gingerich fired a 68, Wotherspoon 71 with Ford and William McDonald finishing at 72.
The Bearcats hope to return to NCAA prominence next season as this year’s squad was on the young side. Jean was the loan senior, William McDonald is a redshirt junior and Gingerich and Cole Harris are both juniors. The rest of the squad (Ford, Wotherspoon, Wyatt Plattner, Jackson Finney and Chris Harpum) are all current freshmen.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC Bearcat men’s golf team finishes out 1st NCAA tournament in Vegas