Final results
BLAINE, Wash.- University of Indianapolis freshman
Aaron Monson (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) led the UIndy men’s golf team to a share of sixth place at the 2009 NCAA Championship Friday. Monson (75-73-72-72) finished one-over par Friday to tie for fifth place in the 108-man field.
Round 4, Friday
After ending round one in 28th place, Monson steadily moved up the leaderboard everyday, culminating in his top-five finish. Monson carded three birdies Friday - his most of the tournament - to notch his second straight one-over round and top out in fifth.
Junior
Seth Fair (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) carded an eagle Friday on his way to a one-over 72. Fair concluded his round with four straight pars to finish tied for 29th place.
Senior
Justin Hueber (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Leo) had his best round of the tournament after carding a final-round 73. In his last collegiate round, Hueber had an up-and-down back nine, but he compiled seven pars and two birds on the front to finish at +2 and share 55th.
Senior
Kyle Pearson (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Blackhawk Christian) shot a 76 Friday to finish the event tied for 53th place, while sophomore
Blair Webb (Avon, Ind./Avon) shot six-over for the final round to place 80th.
Indiana-PA’s Gavin Smith tied Ferris State’s Kelbi Lee at five-over for the tournament, but Smith took medalist’s honors with a birdie on the first tie-breaker hole.
Seventy-two holes weren’t enough to settle the team championship either. Sonoma State made up nine stroke Friday to finish tied with Cal St.-San Bernardino at +43. Sonoma State overtook CSUSB on the first playoff hole to win the 2009 national title.
Round 3, Thursday
Monson notched two birdies on the day to nullify a double bogey on the par-3 15th. After finishing yesterday’s second round in a tie for 22nd, his one-over 72 Thursday moved him into a share of 10th.
Webb returned to form after starting the tournament with back-to-back pedestrian rounds. The Avon, Ind. product notched three birdies Thursday to finish with a team-low 71, moving him up 20 spots into a tie for 79th.
Fair shot even par yesterday but fell back a bit with a six-over 77 in round three, finishing the day in a nine-way tie for 41st.
UIndy’s senior tandem of Hueber and Pearson went for 78 and 77, respectively. Pearson notched the team’s first eagle of the tourney, however, on the 545-yard sixth hole.
Cal St.-San Bernardino moved from second to first with a third-round 295 to take a nine-stroke lead over second-place Barry. Individually, CSUSB’s Gene Webster remains in front at even par through 54 holes, two ahead of Wayne State’s Steve Cuzzort.
Round 2, Wednesday
Fair was the low man for UIndy Wednesday with an even-par 71, tying the second-best score of the day. Like all the Greyhounds, Fair started day two on the back nine, and after a bird on 13 and a bogey on 15, the Brownsburg, Ind. native parred every hole on the front nine to finish dead even for the round. His two-day score of +8 put him in 36th place at the halfway mark, 35 spots higher than his first-round position.
After carding a team-low 75 in round one, Monson continued to shoot well Wednesday. The Indy native finished day two with a 73 to put him at +6 for the tournament, good for a share of 22nd. His second-round scorecard featured 16 pars, with bogeys on 17 and 8 as his only blemishes.
Pearson matched his first-round score with a 76, but after play was completed, he managed to drop 21 spots to tie for 55th. Though he finished five-over par, Pearson shot just one-over for the final 12 holes.
Hueber was eight-over through ten before notching seven consecutive pars and a birdie on the ninth hole to salvage a 77 and tie for 67th.
Webb shaved four strokes off his first-round score but still finished with an 80. A quadruple bogey on the par-5 second hole put a damper on the round, as Webb finished the day tied for 99th.
Wayne State’s Steve Cuzzort (71-70) caught first-round leader Gene Webster of CSU-San Bernardino, as both now top the leaderboard at minus one.
Barry University, which shared the team lead with Sonoma State after the first round, is now in sole possession of the lead at 15-over par after posting a six-over 290 Wednesday. Cal State San Bernardino is a shot back after carding a two-over 286, the best team score of the day.
Round 1, Tuesday
In his first national championship appearance, Monson shot a team-low 75 to finish day one in a six-way tie for 28th. The team’s lone rookie racked-up 12 pars on the day. He birdied the par-5 14th but bogeyed the final two holes to finish four over.
Pearson was one of 15 golfers to card a 76 Tuesday. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native got off to a slow start with a bogey on each of the first three holes. He shot two-over the rest of the way, however, thanks in part to birdies on the 9th and 10th.
UIndy No. 1Hueber had an uncharacteristic opening round. The two-time GLVC Player of the Year started the day with seven straight pars, but a double bogey on eight and a snowman on the par-5 14th conspired to up his score to 78, good for a share of 63rd place.
Fair, who tied for 71st Tuesday, was one-under through five before a 42 on the back nine brought his score to 79. Webb notched a pair of birdies but struggled on the whole with a 13-over 84 to tie for 99th.
Gene Webster of Cal State-San Bernardino finished with the day’s only sub-par score. The junior carded a 70 Tuesday to finish one shot ahead of a quintet of players at 71. Barry University and Sonoma State topped the team leaderboard with matching 293s, four ahead of third-place Northeastern State.
Twenty teams and 108 individuals are vying for the 2009 national championship being held at the par-71 Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Wash. The bulk of the field is comprised of the top five teams from last week’s four super regionals. The top two individuals from each super regional site not on an advancing team were also selected to compete. Play continues tomorrow with round two.
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Note: Matt Ewald of Washburn University fired a hole-in-one Tuesday on the 326-yard, par-4 13th hole.