May 19, 2012

Xavier's Sebastian MacLean finished tied for second while both Charlotte and George Washington shot their best rounds of rhte NCAA Regionals on Sunday.

After setting a blistering pace with four birdies on his first nine holes, MacLean finished the final round of the 2012 NCAA Ann Arbor Regional with a 3-under-par 68. With his three-day total of 68-70-68=206 (-7), MacLean finished tied for second place overall and was the top individual (not playing with a team) at the site.

NC State's Albin Choi advances to the NCAA Finals as the top individual finisher with a 69-66-68=203 (-10) - his team did not qualify for the finals.

Starting from the 10th tee for the second day in a row, MacLean carded birdies on on 11, 12, 13 and 16 before taking the turn at 4-under with a score of 31. At one point during the day he was in sole possession of second place and just one shot off the leader. The front nine took its toll on MacLean, as he recorded four bogeys down the stretch, including on the last two holes. He was able to get three of those stokes back with three birdies on holes one, four and six. For the day, MacLean was 3-under-par (68).

Charlotte enjoyed its best round of the NCAA Regional to move into 11th place after the final round the East Course at Grandover Resort.  Charlotte shot 12-over par 300, led by freshman Raoul Menard and senior Olafur Loftsson, who both shot two-over par.

Menard's two-over round gave him a three-day total of five-over par, 221 and moved him into 16th place for the tournament.  Loftsson and senior Tyler Mitchell both finished at 13-over par to finish tied for 52nd.  Senior Paul Ferrier shot four-over and senior Rafael Guerrero shot six-over in the final round.
Menard was the 49ers leader through the 54-hole event.  Coming off medalist honors at the Atlantic 10 Championship, the A-10 Most Outstanding Performer and Most Outstanding Freshman continued his stellar spring.  Menard birdied 17 and 18 to make the turn at one-over and added birdies on six and eight to offset a double bogey on his way to a 74.

With the 11th-place finish, the 49ers, and their four seniors, end the season with an eighth straight NCAA appearance but shy of the NCAA Championship finals.

The George Washington golf team shot its best round of the NCAA Greensboro Regional on Saturday with an 18-over par 306 to tie for 13th place with Mount St. Mary's with a three-round total of 64-over 928.

The Colonials were competing in their first NCAA Tournament since the 2006 season and first-ever under fourth-year head coach Terry Shaffer ('79) at the par-72, 7,271-yard Grandover Resort East Course.
GW stood in 14th place after Round 1 and bested Mount St. Mary's in Round 2 to move to 13th, but the Mount fired its best score of the weekend with a 12-over 300 to keep pace with the Colonials and finish with an identical 64-over 928.

Senior Andres Pumariega closed out his career as the Buff and Blue's top finisher, as he shot a 4-over 76 on Saturday for a 54-hole total of 11-over 227. Fellow senior Martin Liu carded a 7-over 79 in Round 3 for a three-day score of 18-over 234 to tie for 64th place. Classmate Taylor Fuqua fired an 11-over 83 on Saturday and finished in 68th place with a 20-over 236.

Freshman Jack Persons and senior Brandon Rukin each shot their best round on Saturday, finishing in 72nd and 74th places, respectively. Persons fired a third round 3-over 75 for a total of 24-over 240, while Rukin shot a 4-over 76 for a 30-over 246.

Liberty won the Greensboro Regional team title at four-over par.  Florida (+7), Auburn (+10), Lamar (+13) and Tulsa (+14) all finished in the top five to advance to the NCAA Championship finals.