NOBLESVILLE, Ind. – The Chico State men’s golf team did its part and then the Wildcats watched as the opposition did theirs. Now they’re 18 holes from ecstasy. The Wildcats entered the third round of the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in fourth place, 10 strokes out of the lead. Then they went out and fired the day’s best round, a 5-over par 293, to move in to second. Then they sat in the clubhouse and watched as Florida Southern, still on the Sagamore Golf Club Course, carded nine bogeys and a double bogey over the final four holes. The Wildcats went from five strokes back, to four, to three, to two, to one… they were tied for the lead for a moment… and then with one last Florida Southern bogey, they took a one-stroke lead.
Chico State is 34-over par for the tournament, Florida Southern is 35-over, and third-place Sonoma State is 43-over. Central Missouri (+45), Western New Mexico (+46) and Nova Southeastern (+49) are the only other programs within 20 strokes of the lead.
The Wildcats, in search of the program’s first NCAA national crown since 1966, will tee off the fourth and final round Friday at 6:24 a.m., PDT. Eric Frazzetta will get the team started, followed in nine minute intervals by Brandon Harkins, Lucas Delgado, Sylvester Gama, and Kyle Souza. They'll be paired with athletes from Florida Southern and Sonoma State.
Souza, who entered Thursday tied for second place, is now alone in second in the race for the individual title at 2-over for the tournament. Boasting a 74-70-74–218 total, he’s three strokes behind Cyril Bouniol (76-68-71–215) of Abilene Christian. Bouniol will tee off at 6:15. Gama (75-73-76–224) is tied for seventh at 8-over par.
Eric Frazzetta recorded one of the day's eight birdies at the par-4 sixth to key a strong round.
Ironically, it wasn’t Souza and Gama who keyed the Wildcats’ round Thursday. It was Harkins and Frazzetta, who had undoubtedly been frustrated with their play up until that point.
Harkins entered the tournament as the team’s No. 2 seed and possessed the only NCAA Championship experience on the team after competing as an individual and finishing 27th at last year’s event. But this year had been an absolute struggle prior to Thursday. He was an almost unthinkable 12-over par in round one, and then just as it looked as though his fortunes would turn Wednesday, he went four-over par over the final six holes and finished the day 6-over.
But Thursday was a very different story. Harkins (84-78-72–234) was 2-under on the back nine to finish even par, an accomplished matched or bettered by only seven golfers in the field.
Frazzetta, meanwhile, started the tournament in such a funk that it took him two-and-a-half rounds to dig his way out. The 50th-ranked player in the nation recorded triple bogeys on the third and fourth holes of his tournament, leading to a 9-over par front nine Tuesday. Frazzetta’s (84-77-73–234) played well since then, but was at his very best Thursday, carding a 1-over 73. He was actually in the hunt for the day’s best round before a double-bogey on the 18th.
The strong rebounds by that pair, who are tied for 49th place in the 108-player field, combined with 2-over par days from Souza and Delgado, made the Wildcats a stroke better than hard-charging Central Missouri on Thursday and nine strokes better than the day’s third best team, Western New Mexico.
Delgado (74-80-74–228), who began the day tied for 36th, moved up to 23rd.
The Wildcats made much of their hay on the par-five 14th where Delgado and Harkins delivered eagles, Souza and Frazzetta birdies, and Gama a par. The eagles were the fourth and fifth of the tournament recorded on the 14th.
Kyle Souza enters the final around in second place, three strokes off the lead.
“We were extremely aggressive with the hole playing down wind,” explained Head Coach T.L. Brown. “The guys just bombed drives and hit some incredible shots into those greens. Delgado and Harkins had 12 footers for eagle and rolled them in.”
After their rounds they rolled into the clubhouse and into the lead.
“They’ve got electronic billboards with the scores being updated all around the course, so everyone knows what’s going on,” said Brown. “And as soon as the guys are done with their rounds, they grab their phones and go straight to the Internet to watch the scoring updates. It was certainly nice to see Chico State on top of the leader board at the end of the round.”
With any luck tomorrow they’ll be using those same phones to call their friends and family and share some very, very good news.
TOURNAMENT NOTES – Cal State Monterey Bay is tied for eighth and gives the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) three teams in the top 10…Sonoma State won a playoff with fellow CCAA-school Cal State San Bernardino to win last season’s title…With Western New Mexico currently in fifth place, four teams that participated in the West/Central Super Regional are in the top nine…The Wildcats are attempting to bring home the Chico State athletic department’s first national title since 1999 when the baseball team won its second Division II College World Series in three years…J.J. Jakovac, who won individual national titles in 2002 and 2004, is the last Chico State golfer to win a national crown…Harkins recorded one of only 10 birdies on the par-4 16th Thursday...Frazzetta rolled in one of the day’s eight birdies on the par-4 ninth…Souza is the lone player to rank among the tournament’s top 10 in par-3, par-4, and par-5 scoring. He’s 2-over on par 3s, 3-over on par-4s, and 3-under on par 5s so far this week.
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