May 28, 2009

Toledo, OH - The USD men's golf team returned back to Inverness very early this morning to finish up their second round. Play on Wednesday was delayed by a 4 1/2 hour rain storm. USD heads into the third and final round with a legitimate shot at earning one of the all important eight team spots for match play. USD is currently tied for 12th with three other teams (USC, Georgia Tech, Alabama) at 586, but just four strokes back of Duke who currently holds down the 8th spot. Freshman Alex Ching shot a second round three-under par 68 and is tied for first overall at 4-under par (138).

"After a very rough re-start this morning at 6:45 local time, we battled back well by making 4 birdies on the 18th hole to stay inside the top 15 after round 2," said head coach Tim Mickelson. "We currently sit in 12th place, 4 shots back of the coveted 8th position. We have one round left to get inside that number. It's not easy being at a golf course for 11 hours, then getting 6 hours of sleep to wake up at 5:00 to start playing again at 6:45 which is exactly what we had to do. We handled that adversity pretty well and now have a chance to get us into match play. And from there, anything can happen".

Oklahoma State is first with an even par 568. They are followed by Georgia Tech (573) and Texas A&M (574). Following Ching, the Toreros are paced by senior Blake Trimble (t-53 at 148; 75-73), sophomore Jason Shano (t-80 at 150; 74-76), graduate student Ian Coffman (t-105 at 152; 74-78) and sophomore Gunner Wiebe (t-125 at 154; 78-76).