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By LANCE RINGLER
Assistant Editor

BREMERTON, Wash. – College golf has been manufactured into a team game and it works quite well. However, this week at the NCAA Men’s West Regional it’s an individual that many will be watching.

Boise State’s Troy Merritt is playing this week without his team. There may be no player in all of golf – relatively speaking – hotter than Merritt. The 6-foot-1 inch senior has won his last five starts and seven in 12 tournaments this year.

“The game has been the same throughout this year, it’s just that I have done a lot better with my mental game and stayed a lot more patient during my round,” said Merritt of his winning streak.

Merritt made the turn at 2 under Thursday and appeared on his way to challenging for the first-round lead. But after a bogey on the par-4, 481-yard third hole (his 12th hole of the day) he missed makeable putts on three of his next four holes before a double bogey on his 17th hole. A par on the final hole left him with a 1-over 73 at Gold Mountain Golf Club’s Olympic Course and in a tie for 19th place, just four shots off the lead.

“Dinner is going to taste a whole lot better tonight,” said Merritt after saving par on his final hole.

Merritt will have to be one of the top two individuals not on a team that qualifies for the national championship in order to advance. The top 10 teams advance to play in the NCAA Championship May 28-31 in West Lafayette, Ind.

While this is by far the most difficult field Merritt has faced all year – he has not played in the same field against a single player in the Golfweek/Sagarin top 25 and just eight guys in the top 50 – his approach is simple.

“I came in knowing that I had to play the golf course. You don’t play against the other guys you play against the course,” said Merritt. “I played real, real solid today, just three holes I had a couple of whoops-a-daiseys and it hurt me a little bit. But I am happy with the way things are going.”

His recent run of five victories includes 14 of 15 rounds under par. His lone round above par came in the first round of the Wyoming Classic when he shot 1-over 71. Merritt’s average winning margin during the streak is 5.4 shots.

He leads the country in scoring average (69.26), tournaments won (7), par-4 scoring average (3.94) and is second in par-3 scoring average (2.98) and par-5 scoring average (4.54). Twenty of his 35 rounds this year have been in the 60s.

Before Boise State, Merritt spent two seasons at Winona State where he won eight times and was named a Division II All-American.

• • •

Pac-10 leaderboard: Four Pac-10 schools found the top of the leaderboard after the first round. Playing in the morning wave, Oregon posted a 1-over 289 to lead the early group and by day’s end that number stood as the round’s best. The Ducks not only top the leaderboard, senior Joey Benedetti fired a 3-under 69 to lead all players.

“I was just trying to take advantage really early. I got off to a really good start,” said Benedetti, who is ranked No. 182. “I felt my mental game was really good today and my course management was one of the best of the year so far.”

Oregon, ranked No. 54, leads USC, UCLA and Washington by a single shot.

• • •

Home cooking: The University of Washington is playing host to the West Regional and the Huskies are no stranger to Gold Mountain. The Husky Invitational has been played five times on Gold Mountain’s Olympic Course and after the opening round Washington is in a tie for third place after a 3-over 291.

The Huskies are making their 13th consecutive regional appearance, but after a run of eight consecutive trips to the NCAA finals that ended last year, hopes of starting a new streak could not come at a better place.

“It’s a big advantage and better be a big advantage for all that goes into it,” said Washington coach Matt Thurmond. “We don’t play here everyday, but all of our guys have probably played here 10-20 times each and you get comfortable.”

Washington was led by a pair of sophomores. Nick Taylor recorded a 1-under 71 and Darren Wallace shot even-par 72.

This year Thurmond’s squad will have to do start a new streak being a No. 21 seed.

“We really don’t care one bit what seed we are,” said Thurmond, who is in his seventh year at Washington. “If our conference champion (Arizona State) is our No. 10 seed you have got to beat some really good teams to get into the top 10. If we look at the teams that are in the mid-teens we have beaten a lot of them plenty of times this year. We don’t feel like a 21 seed. We are at home and playing well.”

Three of the Husky players may have found some momentum, or at least some confidence. Senior Zach Bixler, freshman Tze Huang Choo and junior John Wise tuned up their game earlier this week by playing and advancing in U.S. Open local qualifying at Tumble Creek Golf Club in Roslyn, Wash.

“We have had a down year obviously and the day before we come here for the three of us to make it that’s pretty special and feel good things coming from that,” said Bixler, who shot 74.

• • •

Don’t be surprised: Saint Mary’s is making just its second trip to the postseason, but don’t be shocked if you see the Gaels lingering around the cut line all week long. Playing as the No. 18 seed and ranked No. 53 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, the Gaels posted a 6-over 294 and place sixth after Round 1.

Saint Mary’s success this week will depend largely on the play of seniors Mike McRae and Chadd Cocco.

“If they go out and have top finishes individually maybe we can get away with our four or five guys not having a great tournament,” said Gaels’ coach Scott Hardy. “But, I sure would like to have all five guys on their game.”

McRae and Cocco each made five birdies and five bogeys and recorded even-par 72s.

“They both played well and I am pretty happy with 6 over,” said Hardy.

Two years ago, Saint Mary’s made its first trip to regional play. The Gaels tied for 14th place, missing a trip to the NCAA Championship by six shots. That team included Cocco, McRae and Josh Kelly. Since then, McRae and Cocco have each played in a regional as an individual.

“Those three guys have a good amount of experience and just the fact that they have been here and can tell the other guys what to expect is a big deal,” said Hardy.

Anticipating a trip to Gold Mountain for regional play, Hardy brought his team here for a sneak peak the day before the West Coast Conference Championship was set to begin at nearby Chambers Bay.

“We left here that day saying, ‘Wow, this place could be good for us,’ ” Hardy said.

• • •

Lance Ringler is a Golfweek assistant editor. To reach him e-mail lringler@golfweek.com.

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Scores with relation to par from the first round of the NCAA Men’s West Regional, played May 15 at the par-72, 7,111-yard Gold Mountain Golf Club (Olympic) in Bremerton, Wash. (Note: y-played as individual):

TEAMS
1. Oregon	289		+	1
2. USC	291		+	3
2. UCLA	291		+	3
2. Washington	291		+	3
5. Pepperdine	292		+	4
6. Saint Mary (CA)	294		+	6
7. Clemson	295		+	7
7. North Carolina	295		+	7
9. Stanford	296		+	8
10. Texas	299		+	11
11. UCF	301		+	13
11. UNLV	301		+	13
13. Texas Tech	302		+	14
13. Oregon State	302		+	14
13. San Diego State	302		+	14
13. Kentucky	302		+	14
17. LSU	304		+	16
17. Florida State	304		+	16
17. Arizona State	304		+	16
17. Wisconsin	304		+	16
21. California	305		+	17
21. Kansas State	305		+	17
23. Oklahoma	306		+	18
24. San Diego	308		+	20
25. Denver	309		+	21
26. Navy	312		+	24
27. Columbia	314		+	26
INDIVIDUALS
1. Joey Benedetti, Oregon	69			-3
2. Eric Shriver, Pepperdine	70			-2
3. Kevin Chappell, UCLA	71			-1
3. Rob Grube, Stanford	71			-1
3. Nick Taylor, Washington	71			-1
3. Isaiah Telles, Oregon	71			-1
3. Dan Woltman, Wisconsin	71			-1
8. Chadd Cocco, Saint Mary (CA)	72			E
8. Tom Glissmeyer, USC	72			E
8. Rory Hie, USC	72			E
8. Jamie Lovemark, USC	72			E
8. Chase MacFarland, North Carolina	72			E
8. Michael McRae, Saint Mary (CA)	72			E
8. John Peterson, LSU	72			E
8. Derek Sipe, Oregon	72			E
8. Kyle Stanley, Clemson	72			E
8. Darren Wallace, Washington	72			E
8. Chris Ward, Texas Tech	72			E
19. James Byrne, Arizona State	73		+	1
19. Reed Darsie, North Carolina	73		+	1
19. Erik Flores, UCLA	73		+	1
19. Phillip Francis, UCLA	73		+	1
19. Aaron Goldberg, San Diego State	73		+	1
19. Bobby Hudson, Texas	73		+	1
19. Sihwan Kim, Stanford	73		+	1
19. Matt Kinsinger, UNLV	73		+	1
19. y-Troy Merritt, Boise State	73		+	1
19. Sam Saunders, Clemson	73		+	1
19. Andrew Widmar, Pepperdine	73		+	1
19. Henry Zaytoun, III, North Carolina	73		+	1
31. Cale Barr, Kentucky	74		+	2
31. Zach Bixler, Washington	74		+	2
31. Jonas Blixt, Florida State	74		+	2
31. Phillip Bryan, Oklahoma	74		+	2
31. Tze Huang Choo, Washington	74		+	2
31. Mitchell Gregson, Kansas State	74		+	2
31. Charlie Holland, Texas	74		+	2
31. Seath Lauer, Florida State	74		+	2
31. Lucas Lee, UCLA	74		+	2
31. y-Brian Locke, Loyola Marymount	74		+	2
31. y-Jimmy Lytle, Elon	74		+	2
31. Ben Martin, Clemson	74		+	2
31. Tyler Obermueller, Wisconsin	74		+	2
31. Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine	74		+	2
31. Giwon Suh, UCF	74		+	2
31. Diego Velasquez, Oregon State	74		+	2
31. Alex Volpenhein, Kentucky	74		+	2
31. Danny Zimmerman, Wisconsin	74		+	2
49. James Allenby, Oregon State	75		+	3
49. Daniel Cone, Saint Mary (CA)	75		+	3
49. Evan Derian, California	75		+	3
49. Greg Forest, UCF	75		+	3
49. Sergio Franky, Texas Tech	75		+	3
49. George Gandranata, California	75		+	3
49. Seung-su Han, UNLV	75		+	3
49. Robert McRae, Saint Mary (CA)	75		+	3
49. Tim Sluiter, USC	75		+	3
49. Dale Smith, San Diego	75		+	3
49. Carl Smith IV, Pepperdine	75		+	3
49. y-Nathan Stamey, UNC-Greensboro	75		+	3
49. Scott Tashie, Denver	75		+	3
49. Alex Williams, Oregon State	75		+	3
49. Jake Yount, San Diego	75		+	3
64. Jordan Cox, Stanford	76		+	4
64. Matthew Giles, USC	76		+	4
64. Matt Hoffenberg, San Diego State	76		+	4
64. David Johnson, UCF	76		+	4
64. Brett Kanda, UNLV	76		+	4
64. Josh Kelley, Saint Mary (CA)	76		+	4
64. Dodge Kemmer, Stanford	76		+	4
64. Jesper Kennegard, Arizona State	76		+	4
64. Jeff Koprivetz, Denver	76		+	4
64. Liam Logan, Oklahoma	76		+	4
64. Lance Lopez, Texas	76		+	4
64. David May, Clemson	76		+	4
64. David Miller, Navy	76		+	4
64. Phillip Mollica, Clemson	76		+	4
64. Jace Moore, Texas	76		+	4
64. David Palm, San Diego State	76		+	4
64. Mike Stern, UCF	76		+	4
64. Kyle Yonke, Kansas State	76		+	4
82. Jarrod Barsamian, LSU	77		+	5
82. Brandon Beck, California	77		+	5
82. Brian Belden, Kentucky	77		+	5
82. Johan Carlsson, San Diego State	77		+	5
82. y-Jason D'Amore, Loyola Marymount	77		+	5
82. Jack Dukeminier, Oregon	77		+	5
82. Craig Leslie, UCLA	77		+	5
82. Andrew Loupe, LSU	77		+	5
82. Braxton Marquez, Arizona State	77		+	5
82. Kevin O'Connell, North Carolina	77		+	5
82. Eddie Olson, UNLV	77		+	5
82. Santiago Rivas, Texas Tech	77		+	5
82. Matthew Savage, Florida State	77		+	5
82. Jesse Schutte, Oklahoma	77		+	5
82. Robert Streb, Kansas State	77		+	5
82. Blake Trimble, San Diego	77		+	5
82. Andy Winings, Kentucky	77		+	5
99. Knut Borsheim, Arizona State	78		+	6
99. Clark Granum, Columbia	78		+	6
99. Joe Ida, Kansas State	78		+	6
99. Justin Lee, Columbia	78		+	6
99. Garrett Merrell, Texas Tech	78		+	6
99. Eric Mina, California	78		+	6
99. Paul Peterson, Oregon State	78		+	6
99. Austin Quinten, Columbia	78		+	6
99. Chris Renninger, Navy	78		+	6
99. Clayton Rotz, LSU	78		+	6
99. Ryan Wielgus, Navy	78		+	6
99. John Wise, Washington	78		+	6
99. Steve Ziegler, Stanford	78		+	6
112. Jesse Barnsley, Pepperdine	79		+	7
112. Ben Blundell, Oklahoma	79		+	7
112. Kyle Cobb, UCF	79		+	7
112. Chris Gilman, Denver	79		+	7
112. Cameron Knight, Florida State	79		+	7
112. Brian Noonan, LSU	79		+	7
112. Kevin Schultz, Texas	79		+	7
112. Daniel Wax, Denver	79		+	7
120. Barden Berry, North Carolina	80		+	8
120. Will Griffin, Texas Tech	80		+	8
120. Ben Hayes, Navy	80		+	8
120. Drew Kittleson, Florida State	80		+	8
120. y-Tarquin MacManus, Arizona	80		+	8
120. Sean Maekawa, Oregon	80		+	8
120. Ji Moon, UNLV	80		+	8
120. Cashel Rosier, Columbia	80		+	8
120. Erich Schoen, Navy	80		+	8
129. Vincent Johnson, Oregon State	81		+	9
129. Chad Moscovic, San Diego State	81		+	9
129. Jason Shano, San Diego	81		+	9
132. Stephan Gross, Arizona State	82		+	10
132. Stephen Hale, California	82		+	10
132. Espen Kofstad, Denver	82		+	10
132. Daniel Wood, Kansas State	82		+	10
136. Brad Doster, Kentucky	83		+	11
136. Darrin Hall, San Diego	83		+	11
138. Jeff Kaiser, Wisconsin	85		+	13
139. Gus Quartararo, Columbia	87		+	15
140. Tyler Rody, Oklahoma	90		+	18
141. Jordan Elsen, Wisconsin	91		+	19

Posted: 5/15/2008

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