Cowboy Golf in Fourth at NCAA Championships

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Bratton Interview
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State men's golf team was unable to complete the first round of the NCAA Golf Championships on Friday afternoon after play was delayed a handful of times throughout the day due to inclement weather. Play at the par-72, 7,460-yard Karsten Creek Golf Club was halted for darkness Friday evening.

With three holes left to play in their first round, the Cowboys are in fourth at 3-under par. Northwestern sits atop the leaderboard at 8-under as one of 15 teams to have finished its first round. Oklahoma wrapped up the day in second at 5-under, while Texas Tech is in third at 4-under.

The Cowboys were called off the course a little before 9 p.m. CT with only two of its five starters having completed their first round. OSU didn't get underway until 3:48 p.m. due to a lengthy delay to start the morning.

"That was good," head coach Alan Bratton said. "We had more time together to get ready to go. The golf course didn't have a lot of defense today. It looked like we got off to a slow start, but looking at the scores as we were walking in, it looked like we built momentum in the middle of the round. The key for tonight is to go rest. It's a long week and we'll have an early morning tomorrow."

Austin Eckroat was able to finish up his round, turning in a 1-under 71 heading into Saturday. Sitting at 1-over par after two holes, the Cowboy freshman birdied four of his next eight. After a bogey on the fifth and a double on the sixth, Eckroat was able to get back under par with a birdie on the par-4 eighth and position himself in a tie for 24^th overall.

"It went really well," Eckroat said. "I pretty much kept a level head the whole time. I was freaking out at the beginning, but I got myself settled and started making birdies. I kind of had a little debacle on five and six, but kept a level head and made a good par on seven and birdied eight. I feel like I played really well today."

Senior Kristoffer Ventura was the only other Cowboy to finish his round, carding an even 72 to tie for 37^th.

Freshman Matthew Wolff currently leads the Cowboys at 2-under par with two holes to play. Wolff got hot at the turn with an eagle on the par-5 first and birdies on the 17^th, 18^th and second. He is tied for 13^th overall on the individual leaderboard.

Sophomore Viktor Hovland is at even par with three holes to play in his round. Junior Zach Bauchou stands at 5-over with two holes to play.

The Cowboys will resume their first round Saturday morning at 7 a.m. with round two set to follow at 8 a.m.

Team Scores
1. Northwestern – 280
2. Oklahoma* – -5
3. Texas Tech* – -4
4. Oklahoma State* – -3
5. Texas* – -2

Player Scores
T13. Matthew Wolff* – -2
T24. Austin Eckroat – 71
T37. Viktor Hovland* – E
T37. Kristoffer Ventura – 72
128. Zach Bauchou* – +5

*Didn't finish first round

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Zach Bauchou

Austin Eckroat

Viktor Hovland

Kristoffer Ventura

Matthew Wolff

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