Posted by Jason Vittone - Wed, May 19, 2010 - [ AMC ] - Viewed 341 times
WWU in 17th After Day Two at Nationals

(SILVIS, Ill., May 19)--The William Woods University men's golf team is tied for 17th after day two of the 2010 NAIA National Championships.  The Owls shot an opening round 300.  They followed that with a second round 311 (+43) and are tied with St. Ambrose University.  South Carolina-Beaufort leads after two rounds with a 586 (+18).  29 teams comprise the field.  This is the third consecutive trip to the NAIA national championships for William Woods.  

 

The tournament is taking place at the TPC at Deere Run Golf Club in Silvia, Ill.   The TPC at Deere Run, which opened in 2000, is the annual site of the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic.  

 

Sophomore J.D. Nash (Dixon, Mo.) leads the Owls after two rounds.  Nash is tied for 13th individually.  He shot rounds of 73 for a two-day total of 146 (+3).  Nash is seven strokes behind second-round leader Justin Lower (Malone College).  Lower is -4 after two rounds.  

 

Sophomore Nick Wilson (Rocheport, Mo.) is three shots back of Nash.  Wilson shot rounds of 71 and 77.  He is +6 heading into the third round.

 
WWU Individual Leaders
J.D. Nash - T-13th (+3)
Nick Wilson - T-22nd (+6)
Kyle Kovar - T-104th (+16)
Austin Waibel - T-111th (+17)
Chris Rienert - T-142nd (+25)
   

The third round begins Thursday at 7 a.m.

 

The Owls received an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the American Midwest Conference/Dakota Athletic Conference/Unaffiliated Grouping championship on May 1.

 

In the nine-team field, William Woods shot a 601 (+25) and defeated second place Minot State University by 28 strokes. The Owls took two of the top four spots in the AMC/DAC/UG tournament. Sophomore J.D. Nash (Dixon, Mo.) won top individual honors with a 36-hole score of 144. Junior Austin Waibel (Boonville, Mo.) grabbed fourth place at 152. Senior Kyle Kovar (Columbia, Mo.) was right behind in sixth place with a score of 153.

 

The 156-player championships field is comprised of 21 automatic qualifying teams from NAIA affiliated conferences and unaffiliated groupings and seven at-large selections, which are determined using the final Top 25 rating released on April 30. Saint Ambrose (Iowa) qualifies as the host institution. Nine individuals earned a spot in the event through automatic qualification and two were at-large selections. Oklahoma Baptist's Chase Lindsey returns to the event as a returning All-Tournament Team member from 2009.

 

William Woods did not make the final cut at last season's championships. The Owls finished tied for 27th after the first three rounds. Sophomore Nick Wilson (Rocheport, Mo.) was the highest finisher for the Owls. Wilson was tied for 103rd individually after three rounds. Wilson shot rounds of 90, 79 and 70.

 

In its first appearance at the national championships in 2008, the Owls also failed to make the final cut. The Owls finished 25th after three rounds. Junior Austin Waibel (Boonville, Mo.) and senior Kyle Kovar (Columbia, Mo.) made their first appearance at the national tournament in 2008.

 

You can follow the scoring live at the NAIA Men's Golf web page. The site will also list tee times, individual and team results and a daily recap of each round.