Hill Wins NCAA Regional; Advances to NCAA Championships

BOWLING GREEN, KY. – Sophomore Matt Hill continued his winning ways, as he earned medalist honors at the 2009 NCAA Regional Championships, and has advanced to the 2009 NCAA Championships. Hill won his ACC record seventh tournament of the school year, and the sixth in the last seven tournaments overall.

Hill becomes the first golfer since Tim Clark did so in both 1996 and 1997 to win individual medallist honors at the NCAA Regionals. They are the only two Pack golfers to claim such honors as well.

All three of Hill’s rounds this week were under par, as he finished at five-under (212), and won the regional by one stroke over Nick Taylor of Washington. Hill shot a two-under (70) in the final round, matching his score from the first round, each score was sandwiched around a one-under (71) in the second round.

In the final round on Saturday, Hill posted four birdies. His biggest was a birdie on the 18th hole, propelling him into a lead that would last the rest of the regional.

The Pack as a team fell short in its bid for the NCAA Championships. NC State finished in a tie for sixth place at 21-over (296) and four strokes out of fifth place, as only the top five teams from the regional advanced. UCLA took top honors (-1), followed by Washington (+6), Georgia Tech (+16), Ohio State (+16), and Duke (+17).

Senior Darren Blair also brought home a top-20 finish. Blair finished in a tie for 16th place, shooting four-over (220). After a first round two-under (70), Blair shot a four-over (76) in the second round and was two-over (74) in the final round. Blair’s final round as a member of the Pack featured three birdies, and he was even-par on the back-nine.

Rounding out the Pack golfers, junior Brad Revell finished 12-over (228), senior Andrew Byrd was 16-over (232), and sophomore Brandon Detweiler was 20-over (236).

The NCAA Championships will be held May 27-30 at Toledo, Ohio.

Complete results can be found at www.golfstat.com.