The Cougars shot a combined +3 on the second day of their NCAA Regional to fall to 4th in the event. | File photo/The Cougar
In day-two of NCAA Regional play, Houston men’s golf fell to fourth for the event, following a +3 team score on Friday.
The Cougars had a tough day as a team. Four of the five Houston golfers fired over-par rounds in the second round, after four shot under-par the previous day.
Junior Blair Hamilton led Houston on the day, shooting -2-under-par in the second round to sit at -5 for the regional, which tied him for fourth place.
With a pair of sub-70 rounds, at 68 on Thursday and 69 on Friday, Hamilton is the first Cougar to post back-to-back 60’s since the 2003 NCAA Regional.
On that day, Hamilton sank five birdies and two bogeys in his second round.
The Cougars day-one leader, senior Kyle Pilgrim, shot a 73 in the second round, posting a +2 for Friday to move to -3 overall.
Junior Vincent Martino is back at par in the post-season following a one-over-par round on day-two, while senior Roman Robledo is at +1 following a two-over round.
Rounding out the Houston squad is freshman Alan De Bondt who carded a +7 on Friday and ended with a two-day score of +11.
Sitting at fourth, Houston trails the leader, host No. 9 Texas Tech, by nine strokes, as well as No. 2 Texas and No. 48 Duke by six and three strokes, respectively.
Following the end of the event, the five teams with the lowest three-day totals will advance to the NCAA Championships in Florida.
Houston golfers will be paired with athletes from Louisville and Southeastern Louisiana— who are tied for fifth — on Saturday in the last round of the regional.
De Bondt will tee off first four Houston at 7:50 a.m.. Hamilton will be the last Cougar to start play at 8:34 a.m.
