Oklahoma golf: Sooners 4th moving to match play in NCAA Championship
By Chip Rouse
The defending national champion men’s Oklahoma golf team is in 4th place and among the eight teams still alive in the NCAA Men’s Championship.
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The Sooners shot seven-over-par 295 in the final round of stroke play on Sunday for a 72-hole total of 1163, good enough to advance to the match play portion of the championship for the third consecutive season.
Oklahoma struggled early in the front nine at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in the final round of stroke play on Sunday, falling below the cut line halfway through the first nine holes. But the Sooners rallied, as true champions do, shooting even par on the back nine to remain in the hunt for the 2018 national championship.
Junior Brad Dalke was the Sooners’ medalist with a 72-hole score of one-under-par 287, good for an 11th-place tie on the individual leaderboard. Dalke started Monday’s round at four over after 10 holes, but posted three birdies over the final eight holes to finish with a score of one-over-par 73.
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Sophomore Grant Reband shot even-par 72 in Sunday’s final round to lead the Sooners, his best round of the 72-hole stroke-play portion of the championship.
Junior Blaine Hale finished 29th with a four-round score of 291 (+3), senior Grant Hirschman was 37th with a 72-hole total of 295 (+7), and redshirt sophomore Quad Cummins tied for 41st at 296 (+8).
Oklahoma will be paired against Auburn in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round of match play. Auburn finished fifth in stroke play, four shots behind the Sooners.
Oklahoma State, the overall top seed in the NCAA Golf Championship and the host school, is in first place heading into match play. The Cowboys finished at even par after four rounds of stroke play and will face eighth-place Texas A&M in Monday’s quarterfinals.
Two other Big 12 teams are among the final eight teams that advanced to match play in the NCAA Championship. No. 3 Texas Tech is paired with No. 6 Alabama, and No. 7 Texas will square off against No. 2 Duke.
The winners in the quarterfinal bracket will play again on Tuesday afternoon in the semifinals. The remaining two teams will match up on Wednesday in the championship final.