Oklahoma State University Athletics
NCAA Round 1 Quotes
June 01, 2011 | Cowboy Golf
June 1, 2011
2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships May 31, 2011 · Karsten Creek · Stillwater, Oklahoma
Ohio State Coach Donnie Darr
On his team's performance on the first day "I think the big thing was we were just patient out there today. We had a few guys hang in there and make some birdies at the end of the round, but all in all, it was a pretty solid day."
On the wind being calm "I pulled them all together and told them, `Guys, what makes this golf course is the wind, and it's out there today and you just have to understand it's there to be had and you have to go get it.' We didn't quite go get it, but we posted a pretty nice score."
On coming back to Stillwater to compete for a national championship "It's pretty special for me, and my wife came with us. Stillwater is a special place. It's probably not for everybody, but for me, this is probably one of the best places in the U.S. I just love this place and the golf course and everything that Karsten Creek represents."
UCLA Coach Derek Freeman
On his team's performance on the first day "We feel good. We had a nice day. We shot two under par for the first round. We're very happy with that. We're under par. It's a tough golf course, and the wind laid down for us, so that was fortunate. You have to take advantage of it because you don't know what's going to happen over the next two days, so you want to take advantage when you have the opportunity. Fortunately, our guys did that, so we're pretty happy about that and excited about the next two days."
On the wind being calm "When the wind comes up here at Karsten, it's extremely difficult. It's a hard golf course to begin with, but then when you add the pressure of the wind, it makes it that much more hard. So, like I said, you want to take advantage when you can, and we did that. We stumbled a little bit in the beginning, but we played very, very well right when we made the turn. We played 18 and one and two, and then on our back nine we played well. It's a positive step, and we're looking forward to getting off to a good start tomorrow."
Georgia Tech Coach Bruce Heppler
On the team's start to the tournament "That was good. You've waited all year to play and you have to wait until the afternoon to tee off. Anytime you get off to a good start, it makes a big difference." On the wind being calm today "It's a big difference. We played The Preview. I coached here. I built the golf course. They don't give me credit for it, so we know what we're doing. (Monday) I saw Oklahoma State quit after nine, which is what I would've done. They know the place, and it was blowing, but I thought, `We're going to play this as hard as it is because it can't get any harder, so if it comes back later in the week, they know they can still play well.' We played really well (Monday). We hit good shots. So, it was obviously easier today. After playing (Monday), it was like playing inside, so we got a break as far as that goes."
Oklahoma State Coach Mike McGraw
On his team's performance "It wasn't, obviously, the round we wanted to play. The golf course was the most getable you're going to see it, and I don't care how much rough there is, there was no wind. We have very wide fairways. You don't have any wind, you can hit every fairway. I bet if David Edwards was paying out here this week, he wouldn't miss a fairway. They didn't hit it in all the fairways, got in some bad spots. If you get it above the hole, you're going to struggle, but it's OK. Tomorrow's a quick turnaround; we're going to be out here at 7 a.m. and those greens are going to be perfect, and you're not going to be waiting on the group in front of you. You just play nine holes without any stress, so if you can go out there and get a good number posted tomorrow morning, you'll be fine."
On the advantage of playing on their home course "I would always rather play on my home course. If I had a choice, I'd do what I'm comfortable with, I'd do what I know always. Playing here is a big advantage for us, there's no question. Some people try to turn around and say it's not, but it's huge. We love being on this golf course, so if the guys will do a good job of doing what they did the last 10 days to prepare and kind of get back into that good feeling of trying to play good golf, they'll be fine. There's a lot of golf to be played. You've got 36 more holes and they haven't tightened that noose yet, but they will that third day, I promise you."
On if playing without the wind affected the team "It should be that much easier. It's perfect out there today. That's as good as you can possibly have it at Karsten Creek. Some people say, `Would you like to have some wind?' I don't care. I just want to play good. It doesn't matter. If you play good, everything else takes care of itself, whether it's a 40 mile-an-hour gale, or whether it was like today, which was perfect. So, we didn't play very well today, but we'll play better tomorrow. We'll come out and get it going early, hopefully."
OSU Junior Peter Uihlein
On the team's performance "I think it's just one of those days where the ball might not have been bouncing our way. I'm not too worried. I know (Morgan) Hoffmann and Kevin (Tway) will play better. Sean (Einhaus) and Taylor (Gooch) played well today and they'll definitely keep it up. So, I'm not too worried about it."
On how they will be as a come-from-behind team "We'll see. We've got two more days at it, and like I said, I think Kevin and Hoffman will bounce back and we'll be fine."
Alabama Junior Hunter Hamrick
On his round after being in the hospital until 4:30 a.m. Tuesday
"I don't feel good. I went last night and got some treatment (at hospital from 11 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.) and that took a while. I didn't get much sleep. I felt better on the back nine, the front nine was kind of a struggle. I drank a lot of fluids, and I think the medicine was finally kicking in.
"It (not feeling well) just allowed me to play one shot at a time, which is what you have to do on a golf course this hard. I was just taking a step at a time and that helped me play well. I couldn't get ahead of myself. I couldn't think about anything but moving along and hitting the next shot."
On when he started feeling sick
"I had sore throat last week and then I got a migraine about four days ago and it didn't go away. The migraine escalated into body aches and a fever. When I checked into the hospital last night I had a 102 fever. When I came out this morning, I had a fever and it was hot. I think it (the fever) broke on the back nine because I was able to cool down a little on the back nine."
Alabama Head Coach Jay Seawell
On his team's round
"It is a difficult golf course and it is the first round of the NCAAs, so you have all of those pressures plus a great golf course. We were in the premiere pairing and a lot of people on that first tee, so there were some things the guys aren't used too, but we shot even par and I've very proud of them.
On Hunter Hamrick's play
"I would go to war with that guy. Trey (Mullinax) got off to a horrible start and we didn't know if Hunter could go or how many holes he could get in. I wasn't sure if he could go 18 holes. For Hunter to go out there and shoot 1-under par, for as bad as he felt, I am very proud of him."
Players Mentioned
