Adam Wallin (Ohio State Athletics Photo)
In April,
Neal Shipley of Ohio State made headlines as the
low amateur at the Masters Tournament. This week, it has been his teammate
Adam Wallin who has been the topic of conversation as he leads the individual competition at the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. by two shots.
Wallin is 5-under through three rounds and bounced back with a third-round 3-under 69 after a 2-over 74 in the second round.
Karl Vilips of Stanford entered the third round at 7-under with a five-shot lead, but a third-round 4-over 76 saw him fall to 3-under and T2 with 2023 walker cupper Ben James of Virginia.
In the second round, Vilips started with an eagle on the par-5 10th. After two pars on holes No. 11 and 12 and a birdie on No. 13, Vilips was 3-under through four holes. He also birdied No. 15 and 17 to shoot a 5-under 31 on his first nine holes.
Vilips is coming off an individual win at the final Pac-12 championships and is currently ranked No. 14 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt, Max Herendeen of Illinois, and Hiroshi Tai of Georgia Tech are T4 at 2-under. Sargent is currently ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
Tai was the first-round leader after posting a 5-under 67. He started his first round on the back nine and birdied the par-5 10th. He turned to the front nine at 2-under and birdied holes No. 1, 2, 4, and 9 with a bogey on No. 5 to get into the clubhouse at 5-under.
Christo Lamprecht of Georgia Tech, who is ranked No. 5 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings, was forced to exit their lineup due to a back injury after shooting a first-round 2-under 70.
15 golfers are within five shots of the lead heading into the final round of stroke play.
Illinois took the team lead from the 36-hole leader Virginia, shooting an impressive 6-under 282 team score to get to 2-under and lead by six shots. Illinois has shot rounds of 293-297-282 and is the only team under par.
“I think every team gets a little better and learns the golf course,” said Illinois Head Coach Mike Small to the NCAA after the round. “We just played good golf today, we started off with nothing spectacular, but solid. I don’t think the par-5’s were as good as we would have liked them to be, but the par-3’s were solid. We were 6-under the back nine and I think we played No. 10 over-par, which was pretty good. The wind came up the back nine, we met it head on and played solid golf.”
Illinois is seeking its first NCAA team championship in 2024.
“We need to play Illinois golf tomorrow, look forward, not behind,” said Small. “We want to play from strength and just play the golf course the way it is set up to play it and what happens, happens. If we control our space, we will be okay.”
Virginia is in solo second place at 4-over, and Vanderbilt is in solo third place at 9-over. Florida State is in solo fourth place at 10-over, and Ohio State is in solo fifth place at 13-over.
North Carolina and Auburn are T6 at 15-over, the two top teams in the country all season.
All 30 teams and six individuals will complete 54 holes of stroke play, which concluded today.
Following 54 holes of competition, the top 15 teams, along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team, will advance for one additional day of stroke play to determine the top eight teams for match-play competition and the 72-hole stroke-play individual champion.
The top eight teams, after 72 holes of play, will be placed into a bracket thereafter.
ABOUT THE NCAA Division I Championship
30 teams and 6 individuals not on a qualifying
team make up the field for the championship of
NCAA
Division I women's golf.
After 72 holes of stroke play, the individual
champion is crowned, and the low 8 teams advance
to
match play to determine the team champion.
View Complete Tournament Information