Posted: May 11, 2023
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- Senior Killian Ryan (Nottingham, England) carded an even-par round of 71 Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA DII South-Southeast Super Regional at Grande Oaks Golf Club.
Ryan, an individual qualifier for the event, bogeyed the second hole but hit the par-5 3rd hole in two and made birdie. He also rolled in birdies on holes 6 and 8 to make the turn at 2-under 34. His finest shot of the day was a 3-wood to 30 feet on the monstrous 255-yard 5th hole, where he nearly holed the putt for birdie.
After hitting 8-of-9 greens on the front nine, Ryan hit only two on the back nine. However, he did get up and down for pars on five of the seven greens he missed, including a nifty 25-foot putt from off the 18th green to finish his round. He is currently tied for 37th out of 108 participants. Twenty-six players broke par on Thursday.
Overall, Ryan hit 11 fairways and 10 greens and needed 29 putts. He will tee it up for round two of three in the afternoon wave on Friday.
"Killian struck the ball brilliantly on the front side today," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "He birdied both par 5s and was looking good heading to the back nine. "This course is not long (about 6,800 yards), so its defense is wind and tough pin placements. We had some of both today. He wasn't as dialed in with his irons on the back side, but still scrambled to post even par.
"We knew going in that, with 45 of the top 100 DII players in the country in the field, that going low would be crucial. He is that kind of player, so hopefully he will post scores in the low to mid-60s over the next two days, which he is certainly capable of doing."
The top two individuals not on the six qualifying teams will earn a berth to the NCAA DII National Championship at Avalon Lakes Country Club in Warren, OH.
Andrew Riley of Palm Beach Atlantic is the individual leader after carding eight birdies, an eagle, and one bogey in a scintillating round of 9-under 62. He has a 3-shot lead over Shorter's Isaac MacNaughton. Eight players are tied for third at 4-under par.
Shorter University, ranked 32nd, has the team lead at 12-under 272. They are followed by No. 39 Lynn (-9), No. 2 Barry (-8), No. 3 West Florida (-7), and No. 46 Florida Southern (-6). The field of 20 includes 15 top-25 teams.