Stags Golf Lives to Play Another Day, Makes The Cut at NCAA Championships
BOULDER CITY, Nev. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's golf team had some nervy moments as it tried to finish above the cutline (top 18) after the second round of the NCAA Division III Championships, but made it through in a tie for 17th after a 296 on Wednesday at the Legacy Golf Club.
Yuefeng (Michael) Ma, the SCIAC Athlete of the Year, was huge for the Stags, shooting -3 on the day, including -4 over the final 12 holes to provide CMS with the margin it needed on a day when low scores were difficult. Ma managed a par on the 18th to get the Stags in the clubhouse at +12, and CMS had to wait out the finish with Rose-Hulman, who could have forced a three-way playoff with CMS and Wittenberg with a late birdie, but ended up two shots back at +14.
CMS never fell below the cutline at any point during Wednesday's round. They started to slip back towards the line on their first nine holes, but Adrian Chiu had an eagle on the 17th (CMS started on the 10th hole), while Ma and Jamison Tan added birdies to give CMS some separation.
The Stags were mostly steady on the back nine, with Ma getting birdies on No. 4 and No. 5 while Chiu, Tan and Joshua Kwon managed seven pars on a narrow course that played difficult in breezy conditions. The top six teams coming in all played the Boulder Creek Course yesterday (as did CMS), but universally found the Legacy course much tougher. Methodist led with a -17 yesterday, but shot +7 on Wednesday. Emory shot a 272 (-16) on Tuesday and a 302 (+14) on Wednesday.
Redlands managed an even par on Wednesday with a 288, which was 13 shots worse than it shot at Boulder Creek on Tuesday, but it was enough to move the Bulldogs into first place at -13, with Kenyon second at -11 and Methodist in third at -10.
Ma moved up 74 spots on the individual leaderboard to a tie for 31st with his -3 on the day, which leaves him at even par over two rounds. Tan is one shot behind at +1 and in a tie for 44th.
With the cut safely behind them, CMS has a great opportunity ahead to make a move up the team leaderboard over the next rounds, with only six teams in the field currently under par. The Stags at +12 are only six shots out of the top 10 and could put themselves in a position to make a run at a top-four finish with a strong round on Thursday, which be held back at Boulder Creek. The Stags went from 15th to first last year before settling for their second straight third-place finish.
