Sophomore Chris Wilson’s breakthrough season ended in disappointment Saturday.
In his first NCAA Central Regional championships, Wilson picked up his worst finish of the year, taking 66th place with a 12-over 222.
“He didn’t have his best game,” coach Pat Goss said. “While watching him play, I think I realized that it just wasn’t his week.”
Wilson struggled from the start, bogeying his first hole of the tournament at the Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind. Before the first round was suspended because of a rain delay, Wilson had dropped to 4-over through 11 holes.
Wilson started his second day strong, shooting even par over his last seven holes of the first round.
But with 18 holes still left to play Friday, Wilson’s second round turned out to be his worst.
“The rain delay was unfortunate because he had to play so many holes on Friday, ” Goss said. “It really magnified his bad day of the tournament.”
In that round Wilson followed up a bogey on the fifth hole with a double bogey on the sixth and never recovered. He finished the round with an 8-over 78, dropping him into a tie for 94th.
After the second round, Wilson said he worked at the driving range and focused on controlling his shots.
With more practice and less pressure, Wilson bounced back in his final round with his best round of the weekend, an even-par 70. His performance in the final round moved him from 94th to 66th place.
Wilson, who was an individual qualifier at the regionals, finished 13 strokes from earning an individual bid to the national championships. The bids go to the top two individual finishers not on a team that advances.
Eastern Michigan’s Korey Mahoney (2-under 208) and Wichita State’s Judd Easterling (1-under 209) picked up the two individual bids to the NCAA championships in Owings Mills, Md.
Augusta State won the team title with a 9-over 849, nine strokes ahead of runner-up Oklahoma State. Purdue was the only Big Ten team to advance to the national championships, taking 10th place after a playoff with Wichita State.
Senior Kalle Edberg led Augusta State to the team championship, as he captured the individual title with a 5-under 205.
Although Wilson was disappointed with the results of the weekend, he said he was happy with the experience of playing in his first NCAA Regional championships.
Wilson, who earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors, finished the season with a team-best 74.10 scoring average.
“Anytime you play in a bigger event there’s more pressure,” Wilson said. “And having been there and being through this, I know what to expect when our team makes it.”
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
