FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' odds for advancing out of this weekend's New Haven Regional to the NCAA men's golf championships are long after losing two of its top four players.
The Razorbacks will be without No. 1 player Taylor Moore and No. 4 player Nicolas Echavarria when the field tees off this morning at The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn. Moore and Echavarria are serving indefinite suspensions after being charged with video voyeurism, a Class D felony, by Fayetteville police for allegedly taking or possessing sexually explicit cellphone photos of a female who was intoxicated and passed out at Moore's house.
At a glance
WHAT NCAA Golf Regional
WHEN Today-Saturday
WHERE The Course at Yale, New Haven, Conn.
COURSE STATS 6,803 yards, par 70
REGIONAL SEEDS 1. Vanderbilt, 2. LSU, 3. South Florida, 4. Oklahoma State, 5. Arkansas, 6. San Diego State, 7. Iowa, 8. North Carolina State
ARKANSAS LINEUP 1. Kolton Crawford (72.2 scoring average), 2. Zach Coats (74.2), 3. Alvaro Ortiz (73.3), 4. Gonzalo Rubio (76.8), 5. Alec Tahy (first tournament)
NOTEWORTHY The field at the New Haven Regional has combined for 20 NCAA men’s golf championships. … Arkansas will be paired with Oklahoma State and San Diego State for today’s round. … The Course at Yale, designed by C.B. MacDonald, a co-founder of the USGA, was made with a $400,000 budget after the 700-acre tract was donated to the school in 1924. … The other five regionals are being hosted by Ball State, North Carolina, Texas Tech, the University of San Diego and Washington.
The top five teams from each of six regionals will comprise the 30-team field for the NCAA Championships, which will be played at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., beginning May 29.
Arkansas' chances of advancing took a big hit with the loss of Moore and Echavarria, both juniors who have played in the past two NCAA Championships.
"It's going to be an uphill battle for sure," Coach Brad McMakin said. "We've got three starters who have a lot of experience. ... The good thing about this is you don't have to win the tournament to advance."
Junior Kolton Crawford will move into Moore's No. 1 spot, with sophomore Zach Coates playing No. 2, followed by freshman Alvaro Ortiz, junior Gonzalo Rubio and freshman Alec Tahy. Rubio has a 76.8 stroke average in six rounds of competition this season, while Tahy has not teed up in a tournament for the Hogs.
Crawford, coming off a tie for 17th at the SEC Tournament, leads the Razorbacks with a 72.2 stroke average, while Ortiz is third on the team (73.3) and Coats is fifth (74.2). Crawford, of Mansfield, Texas, had two second-place finishes in the spring and led the Razorbacks with 14 low rounds out of 37 rounds.
The Razorbacks are the No. 5 seed in the regional, behind No. 5 Vanderbilt, SEC champion and No. 7 LSU, No. 16 South Florida and No. 20 Oklahoma State. The other schools in the regional -- in order of seeding -- are San Diego State, Iowa, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Troy, North Texas, College of Charleston, Robert Morris and Saint Peter's.
Arkansas is coming off a sixth-place finish at the SEC Championships on April 19 at St. Simons Island, Ga.
"We had a lot of momentum coming in here," McMakin said. "We were playing ... pretty well. We'd beaten Vandy and LSU throughout the semester. We've beaten [No. 1] Florida State."
McMakin said Crawford, Ortiz and Coats have shown good leadership following the suspensions.
"We need to get off to a good start," McMakin said. "I think it's very important that these kids get some confidence early.
"It would be really important if we could put a good round together the first round, just be in the mix and get some confidence early."
The Course at Yale, a par 70 with a 6,803-yard layout, was rated the No. 1 on-campus course in 2010 by Golfweek.
McMakin said the harder the course, the better for his team.
"I think we'll have a good chance if it's difficult," he said. "Hopefully four- or five-over rounds will keep us in there. I really don't want it to be a birdie-fest."
Sports on 05/14/2015