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David Hearn Shoots an Opening Round 74 at NCAA West Regional
Thursday's round was the first of three 18-hole rounds.
May 17, 2001
LARAMIE, Wyo. -
University of Wyoming senior David Hearn fired an opening round 74 on Thursday at the NCAA West Regional. Hearn is seven strokes back of leader John Merrick of UCLA, who shot a 67. Hearn is tied for 50th in the field of 141 collegiate golfers. The NCAA West Regional is being played at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis, Ore., and is being hosted by Oregon State University. Thursday's round was the first of three 18-hole rounds to be played in the tournament. The second round will be played on Friday, May 18, with the final round to be contested on Saturday, May 19. Hearn's 74 was two-over par on the par 72 Trysting Tree course that measures 7,060 yards. "David (Hearn) played a solid round today," said UW men's golf coach Roger Prenzlow. "David is still in position to make a run at the NCAA Championship. He is only three shots out of the Top 10 entering the second round, and he has the skill and the poise to make up some ground tomorrow. "This field is filled with the best of the best in college golf, and David has proven he is among the best over his four-year college career. Reaching the NCAA Championship is his final goal as a collegiate golfer. He'll just have to continue to play his game and see what happens over the final two days here in the regional." Hearn is attempting to be the first Wyoming golfer to advance to the NCAA Championships. He already made UW history by being the first Wyoming golfer to qualify for three consecutive NCAA Regionals. The top 10 teams from each NCAA Regional and the top two individuals, who are not a member of one of those top 10 teams, will advance into the NCAA Championship. In the team competition, Arizona State jumped out to the first-day lead with a five-under par team score of 283. Stanford is one shot back at 284. Wake Forest holds on to third place with a 288, and three teams are tied for fourth at 289 -- Arizona, San Diego State and UCLA. There are a total of three NCAA Regionals. All three Regionals are being played on the same dates, Thursday-Saturday, May 17-19. The East Regional is being held at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va., and is being hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University. Oklahoma State University is hosting the Central Regional at the Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Okla. The NCAA Championship will be held on Wednesday-Saturday, May 30 - June 2 at the Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C., with Duke serving as the host institution. Hearn, a senior from Brantford, Ontario, also made history a year ago when he qualified for his second consecutive NCAA Regional. No other UW golfer had earned two consecutive trips to the NCAAs prior to Hearn's. The only other UW men's golfers to reach the NCAA Regionals as individuals were: Dave McCleave in 1990 and Pat Fry in 1995. McCleave also was a member of the 1992 Wyoming squad which qualified for the NCAA West Regional as a team. During the 2001 spring season, Hearn fought his way back from a
wrist injury that hampered him early in the spring. He is coming off a
10th-place finish at the 2001 Mountain West Conference Championship where he
also was named to the All-Conference team for the first time in his career.
He has finished in the Top 10 individuals at each of the last three
conference championships he has played. As a sophomore in 1999, Hearn tied
for seventh out of 80 competitors at the Western Athletic Conference
Championship. He went on to tie for 17th out of 93 competitors at the '99
NCAA West Regional. His junior season of 2000, Hearn tied for eighth out of
40 competitors at the inaugural Mountain West Conference Championship, and
finished in a tie for 90th out of 141 competitors at the 2000 West Regional.
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