Tait Excels, but Wind Hampers Progress in NCAA Round Two

Tuesday, May 17

New Haven, Conn. / Yale Golf Course

All Day

Seton Hall University

Second Round

Gregor Tait takes a tee shot during round two of the NCAA Regional

Tait Excels, but Wind Hampers Progress in NCAA Round Two

5/17/2022 5:56:00 PM | Men's Golf

LIVE SCORING - Round Two

Gusty winds ruined a great start to round two for the Pirates, but they're still in contention.

NEW HAVEN, CONN. – Graduate student Gregor Tait (Martlesham Heath, England) shot a team-best 1-under-par, 69, in Tuesday's windy second round and the Seton Hall men's golf team is in ninth place with 18 holes remaining of the NCAA Yale Regional.

It was a tale of two different performances in two round on Tuesday for the Pirates. The morning started beautifully with all five golfers excelling. At the turn, the Pirates were remarkably 8-under par for the round, in fourth place and only four strokes off the team lead.

Then the wind came.

Just as the Pirates were making the turn, a steady 14 mph wind kicked up with gusts significantly higher. Collectively, the Pirates were +12 on the back nine. They were -5 on the same nine holes 24 hours earlier. The end result was far from horrific, a 6-over-par, 286, but given their start, it makes you wonder where they'd be if the "winds of change" didn't arrive.

In their quest to finish in the Top-5, and advance to the National Championship, the Pirates trail fifth-place Texas Tech by 11 strokes entering Wednesday's final round. For the tournament, The Hall is 1-over-par with a 275-286-561. Wake Forest leads the regional at an impressive 21-under-par.

Seeded 12^th and currently in ninth place, the Pirates are still ahead of a pair of Top-35 teams. No. 31 Charlotte is currently 11-over-par and No. 27 NC State is 23-over-par.

Tait was strong for a second consecutive round, and used four birdies and 11 pars to fire another 1-under-par, 69. It was his 30^th career sub-par round, which ties former teammate Gen Nagai for second-most in Seton Hall history.

For the tournament, Tait is tied for 16^th place with a 2-under-par, 69-69-138.

The top Pirate for the tournament continues to be Andres Acevedo (San Antonio, Texas). In round two, the graduate student was without a blemish through 11 holes, but struggled late. Still, his four birdies led him to an even-par, 70, on Tuesday.

For the tournament, Acevedo is tied for 11^th with a 3-under-par, 67-70-137. He trails the individual leader, North Carolina's Ryan Gerard, by seven strokes.

More importantly, however, Acevedo trails the current advancing individual by only one stroke. The top individual that isn't playing for an advancing team (top five) gets the automatic qualifier to the National Championship. There is a tie currently for that position between Illinois' Adrien Dumont de Chassart, VCU's Adrian Vagberg, and a familiar face, UConn's Caleb Manuel, all currently at 4-under-par.

Angus O'Brien (Barwon Heads, Australia) was consistent again on Tuesday, using a birdie and 14 pars to shoot a 2-over-par, 72. Through 36 holes, the freshman is 3-over-par with a 71-72-143.

Senior Deven Ramachandran (San Rafael, Calif.) shot nine pars on the front nine, but had a rough time on the back, finishing with a 6-over-par, 76. For the tournament, Ramachandran is 4-over-par with a 68-76-144.

Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) was just 1-over-par on the front nine, but also faded late, finishing with a 5-over-par, 75. Entering Wednesday's final round, the junior is 8-over-par with a 73-75-148.

Tournament Details:
2022 NCAA YALE REGIONAL
Host: Yale University
Location: New Haven, Conn.
Course: Yale Golf Course
Course Vitals: Par-70, 6,766 yards
Dates: May 16-18, 2022

TOURNAMENT LEADER BOARDS

Team Leaders

Player Leaders

Combo Listing

Statistical Leaders

Twitter

THE COURSE
In 1923, a 700-acre tract of swamp and woodland was given to Yale by Mrs. Ray Tompkins in memory of her husband. Under the supervision of Charles Blair Macdonald, the renowned golf course architect, champion golfer, and co-founder of the USGA, plans were made for an 18-hole golf course. With a budget of $400,000, Macdonald, in collaboration with Seth Raynor, designed a masterpiece which opened for play in 1926.

Today, the Yale Golf Course is recognized as one of the finest examples from the Macdonald & Raynor portfolios. Large greens with deep bunkers and wide, rolling fairways are the core of Yale's strategic and penal character. The Yale Golf Course is consistently recognized as the finest collegiate course in the nation. The course has been the site of every significant state championship, two USGA Junior National events, and NCAA Regionals in 1991, 1995, 2004, 2010, 2015 and again in 2022. The course has also been the home of the Nike Connecticut Open.

The 6,766-yard, par-70 course features large and deeply bunkered greens and narrow fairways that challenge golfers at all levels of play. Two of the holes—the 432-yard par-4 fourth and the 238-yard par 3 ninth—have been ranked among the world's 100 most difficult holes.

THE FIELD
The field consists of the 14 selected NCAA Yale Regional participants and five individuals. Below are the teams in order of their seed with their Golfstat ranking in parenthesis.

Teams:

North Carolina (5)
Texas Tech (8)
Wake Forest (17) – ACC Champion
Illinois (20) – Big Ten Champion
NC State (27)
Charlotte (31) – C-USA Champion
North Florida (39) – Atlantic Sun Champion
Georgia Southern (49)
Mississippi State (52)
Virginia (58)
UCF (68)
SETON HALL (90) – BIG EAST Champion
Yale (167) – Ivy League Champion
Sacred Heart (204) – NEC Champion

Individuals

Roberto Nieves, Delaware
Eddy Lai, UCLA
Caleb Manuel, Connecticut
Adrian Vagberg, VCU
Ryan Tall, Lafayette

THE FORMAT
Teams will play five golfers and count the four lowest scores per round. Teams are allowed to substitute a sixth golfer for any player in their lineup prior to any round.

THE STAKES
In addition to the Yale Regional, there are five others being played simultaneously in Bryan, Texas, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Stockton, Calif., Norman Okla. and Columbus, Ohio. The Top-5 finishing schools from each regional (30 teams total) and the low individual not on an advancing team (six individuals total) will advance to play in the championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., on May 27- June 1.

TEE TIMES
The field will play one round (18 holes) over each day for three days. Seton Hall will again be paired with golfers from No. 10 Virginia and No. 11 UCF in round three, but will now tee off the first hole beginning at 8:25 a.m. The Pirate schedule looks like this for Wednesday…

XIE (HALL) – 8:25 a.m.
RAMACHANDRAN (HALL) – 8:36 a.m.
O'BRIEN (HALL) – 8:47 a.m.
TAIT (HALL) – 8:58 a.m.
ACEVEDO (HALL) – 9:09 a.m.

THE RESULTS
Live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com. Full day results will also be available at SHUPirates.com.

2022 NCAA YALE REGIONAL - Team Scores
Pos.	Player	R1	R2	R3	TOTAL	PAR
1	Wake Forest (17)	267	272		539	-21
2	North Carolina (5)	273	267		540	-20
T3	North Florida (39)	267	281		548	-12
T3	Georgia Southern (49)	270	278		548	-12
5	Texas Tech (8)	271	279		550	-10
6	Illinois (20)	273	282		555	-5
7	Virginia	277	279		556	-4
8	UCF	276	282		558	-2
9	SETON HALL	275	286		561	+1
10	Mississippi State	280	290		570	+10
11	Charlotte (31)	280	291		571	+11
12	Yale	286	296		582	+22
13	NC State (27)	284	299		583	+23
14	Sacred Heart	309	301		610	+50