Duke In Third After Opening Round Of NCAA East Regional

Thursday, May 17

Alpharetta, Ga.

12:35 p.m.

Duke University

Day One

Duke In Third After Opening Round Of NCAA East Regional

5/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

ALPHARETTA, Ga. ? Sophomore Clark Klaasen fired a three-under 69 in the opening round of the NCAA East Regional to lead Duke to an even-par 288 on Thursday. Junior Michael Quagliano and freshman Adam Long added even-par 72s for the Blue Devils, who sit in third place following the first round of action.

Cameron Tringale shot a 5-under-par 67, and Chesson Hadley carded a 68 to pace Georgia Tech to a 4-under 284 and a two-shot lead over Georgia at the 7,017-yard Lakeside Course at The Golf Club of Georgia. Duke's even-par 288 was good for third, while Georgia State (289) and Florida (290) round out the top 5. Auburn (293), Clemson (293), Maryland (295), Charlotte (296) and Penn State (297) rounded out the top 10 after 18 holes. The top 10 teams after 54 holes, plus two individuals not on those teams, will advance to the NCAA Division I Championship May 30-June 2 at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va.

"We talked last night about being patient, staying focused and having fun, and I think we did that today. Especially with the wind swirling as the day went on, we played well," said interim head coach Brad Sparling. "Clark [Klaasen] played very well, Michael [Quagliano] fought back and did a great job after being out of the lineup and Adam [Long] was consistent all day as he has been all year. Jake [Grodzinsky] and Michael [Schachner] battled but just had a few tough breaks out there."

Klaasen opened with a pair of birdies, six pars and a bogey on the back nine (Duke began play on No. 10), before slipping back to even-par with a bogey on No. 1. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native played the final eight holes at three-under and finished the day with five birdies, tied for seventh most in the opening round. Klaasen carded birdies on No. 2, No. 4 and No. 9 on the front nine en route to his team leading ninth round of under-par golf of the season. Klaasen's 69, tied for the seventh-best Duke round in regional tournament action, puts him in a tie for third overall.

"I hit a lot of fairways and tried to hit to the middle of the greens. You have to wait until you have a good comfortable pin on this course before you can go after them," said Klaasen. "You try to make pars out here. I only hit driver three times all day and made some good up and downs. If you can do that and make a five or six footer for par here, that is a big part of scoring."

Quagliano, who has missed five of the six spring tournament with a back injury, began play with a bogey on No. 10, but quickly followed up with a birdie to get back to even-par. After suffering a double-bogey on No. 12, he carded three straight pars and birdied No. 7 and No. 9 to make the turn at even-par. Quagliano birdied No. 1 for his third birdie in four holes and parred the next five holes before suffering a bogey on No. 7. The Ardsley, N.Y., native parred the final two holes for his fifth even-par round of the year.

Long opened with five straight pars before carding a birdie on the par-4 15th hole. He capped off his opening nine with three more pars to make the turn at one-under (35). Bogeys on No. 1 and No. 6 dropped him back to one-over with three holes remaining. The freshman from St. Louis, Mo., responded with a birdie on No. 7 and pars on No. 8 and No. 9 for an even-par 72. Long and Quagliano are tied for 15th overall after the opening round.

"I hit the ball well today. My ball striking was solid all day. I felt good with all of my clubs and my putting was solid as well. I only missed one short putt all day," said Long. "We are in the right position as a team, right where we wanted to be after the first day."

Senior Jake Grodzinsky and junior Michael Schachner each shot three-over 75s in the opening round. Grodzinsky got off to a slow start and was five-over with five holes left to play in his round. He recovered with birdies on No. 5, No. 7 and No. 8 to get back to two-over but bogeyed the par-5 ninth hole to close his round tied for 51st. Schachner started well with seven pars, one birdie and a bogey on the back nine, before suffering bogeys on four of the first eight holes on the front nine. The Libertyville, Ill., native closed with a birdie on No. 9 and is also tied for 51st overall.

Tringale and Hadley stand atop the leaderboard individually with Klaasen, Bryan Rozier of Jacksonville State and Chris Gold of Maryland tied for third place at 3-under 69. Brendon Todd of Georgia is in a tie for sixth at 2-under 70 with Keegan Bradley of St. John's.

The second round of the East Regional begins at 7 a.m. Friday, with the final round scheduled for Saturday. Live online scoring of the tournament can be followed at www.golfstat.com.

NOTES

*** Clark Klaasen hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation in the opening round. He also played the par 4s at two-under, tied for the seventh-best par-4 scoring on Thursday. Teammate Adam Long also played the par 4s at two-under.

*** Michael Quagliano hit 13 of 14 fairways. He played the par 5s at three-under, tied for the best par-5 scoring of the opening round.

*** Adam Long finished the day with 14 pars, tied for fifth-most in the opening round. Long hit 11 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation.

*** Duke finished the day with 17 birdies, two double-bogeys, 15 bogeys and 56 pars.

*** The Blue Devils were three-over on the front nine and even-par on the back nine at the Lakeside Course at the Golf Club of Georgia in the opening round.

NCAA EAST REGIONAL

The Golf Club of Georgia (Lakeside Course), Alpharetta, Ga.

Par 72, 7,017 yards

First-round Results

TEAM STANDINGS

1 Georgia Tech 284 -4

2 Georgia 286 -2

3 Duke 288 E

4 Georgia State 289 +1

5 Florida 290 +2

T6 Auburn 293 +5

T6 Clemson 293 +5