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HomeSportsAPSU Golf's Dustin Korte struggles during First Day of NCAA Golf Championship

APSU Golf’s Dustin Korte struggles during First Day of NCAA Golf Championship

Austin Peay State University Governors SportsWoodstock, GA – When his first two shots landed in sand Dustin Korte should have known it was going to be that kind of day.

The Austin Peay State University senior, playing as an individual in the first round of the NCAA Golf Championship, bogeyed the first hole and then went onto finish at a 5-over 75 in Day 1 of the tournament, being played at the Capital City Crabapple Course.

APSU's Dustin Korte. Austin Peay Men's Golf. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)
APSU’s Dustin Korte. Austin Peay Men’s Golf. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)

“Not a lot of anything worked today,” Korte said. “I hit the ball okay today. I hit some good iron shots. This is a golf course that is extremely challenging. You get bad breaks and you cannot let it bother you, not saying it did.

“But one bad break after another…it just happens. You have to battle through it and I didn’t do a good job of that today.”

In addition to a bogey on No. 1, he also bogeyed No. 4 and No. 8 on the front side but things started to turn his way. Korte narrowly missed a birdie on No. 9 and came up short on Nos. 10 and 11 before finally garnering his first birdie on the par-5, No. 12. But sand proved to be his undoing on No. 15, resulting in a double bogey. He also bogeyed the following hole.

“I had a couple of errors there early but I thought I played really well during the middle of the round,” Korte said. “I felt I hit some good putts but for whatever reason they didn’t drop.  I just didn’t get the job done.

Dustin Korte“I will use today as an experience and tomorrow and the next day I will play the best I can.”

“Dustin just got off to a rough start,” APSU coach Kirk Kayden said. “He played well in the middle of the round, had some momentum after a birdie on the par 5. He just didn’t make the putts you needed to make out here with the pins tucked five-six paces from the edge, lot of them on a crown or just off a ledge.

“You have to be first careful with your second shots and then you have a lot of 15 and 20 footers.  Dustin usually makes a couple of those, but today he didn’t.  He burned the edge (of the cup) on a couple of them.

“He played hard and played to the wire. Hopefully, the experience will help him relax a little more tomorrow.”

Korte is confident his second-round play will be much improved, Tuesday. After a 2:20pm tee time, Tuesday, he will turn around with a 9:00am (ET) start Wednesday.

“I have to hit more fairways tomorrow,” Korte said. “The holes I didn’t do too well on today I hit bunkers. Every hole I bogeyed I hit a bad tee shot. You have to tee the ball up in the fairway every time and if you do, you are going to play well, If not, you are going to struggle.”

Arizona State, which narrowly earned an NCAA Championship berth in the Tempe Regional, led after Day 1 at 10-under 270, largely because Jon Rahm shot a course record 9-under 61. He was one shot off both the round score (Duke’s Michael Schachner shot a 60 in the final round of the 2007 NCAA Championship at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, VA) and NCAA record for score in relation to par ( 10-under 62 Stanford’s Notah Begay  in the second round of the 1994 Championship at Stonebridge CC in McKinney, Texas).

Host Georgia Tech is four shots back at 274 while Alabama is at 275 and Illinois one stroke higher at 276.

The three-day stroke play continues Wednesday and Thursday before match play begins Friday.

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