Brooks Koepka leads Florida State after two rounds of the NCAA Southeast Regional championship.

Freshman cards second consecutive round of 69.

May 15, 2009

SORRENTO, Fla. - Florida State University freshman Brooks Koepka carded his second consecutive score of two-under par 69 and is in a tie for 11th place in the individual standings after two rounds of the NCAA Southeast Regional championship at the Red Tail Golf Club. The Seminoles slipped from fifth place into ninth as they carded a two-over par team score of 286.

The Seminoles, who are looking to advance to the NCAA Championship round for the second time in the last three years, need to finish as one of the top five teams in the event to advance to the finals which are scheduled for May 27-30 at the Inverness Country Club in Toledo, Ohio. The Seminoles begin play in Saturday's final round only three strokes behind South Carolina and Kentucky for the fifth and final spot if they are to advance to the championship finals. An even further illustration on how tight the competition is shows the Seminoles only five strokes behind fourth place Charlotte and six strokes behind third place Georgia.

Central Florida, the host team for the regional, maintained its lead in the team standings and will begin play in the final round with a two stroke lead over Arizona. The No. 23 ranked Knights and the No. 26 ranked Wildcats finished with identical scores of seven under par 277 in the second round. Tarquin MacManus of Arizona continued to lead the individual standings and has a two day total of 129 with scores of 63 and 66. He has a five stroke lead over David Johnson of UCF.

"We hung in there pretty well most of the day and simply did not finish the round," said head coach Trey Jones. "Five bogeys on the 18th hole and ball hit out of Bounds by Matt on #17 took us from fourth to ninth in a hurry. I know if we play well tomorrow we will control our destiny and that is all you can ask after a finish like we had today."

Koepka continued to play as Florida State's hottest golfer as he carded his second consecutive round of two under par 69. He is playing as well as any player in the tournament and was three under par through his first 17 holes of the second day before finishing the round with a bogey. Koepka has now carded three consecutive rounds of 69 (two in this tournament and one in the final round of the ACC Championship) and has a two day total of 138. His personal record for a 36-hole score is 133 (68-65) in the Florida State Spring Break Invitational on March 12 in Tallahassee.

Koepka has carded 35 of 36 holes at par or better in the first two rounds of the tournament with only one hole - his 18th hole in the second round - coming in above par. He has been at or below par throughout the first two rounds and has yet to be above par during the regional championship.

Junior Seath Lauer carded a one-under par score of 70 in the second round and is in a tie for 26th place in the individual standings. He was nearly flawless during the second round as he played his first 17 holes at two under par with two birdies and 15 holes at par. Lauer's one misstep came on the 18th hole as he finished with a bogey to complete the round at one under par.

The score of 70 ranks tied for Lauer's best round of the season; he carded a two-under par 70 in the second round of the Florida State Spring Break Invitational. His 141 total is his best 36-hole total of his junior season and the fourth best of his career.

Senior All-American Matt Savage carded a three-over par 73 and has a two day total of 141. He carded a five-under par 66 in the first round. The difference in Savage's second round was three birdies and five bogeys in the second round as compared to one eagle, six birdies and only three bogeys in his first round.

Savage is in a tie for 15th place as he plays for his fourth top-15 finish of the season and his best career NCAA regional championship finish. He finished in a tied for 23rd place in the NCAA East Regional in 2007.

Junior Cameron Knight (tied for 49th place) and sophomore Drew Kittleson (tied for 64th) carded scores of 74 and 78, respectively, in the second round. Both Knight and Kittleson carded scores of 71 in the first round.

"I know one thing -- this team believes they will play well and has a hard time believing Drew will play three rounds this week without posting a good number for us," said Jones.

The event is scheduled to conclude with a final round of 18 holes on Saturday beginning at 8:50 a.m.

2009 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship/Par 71
Red Tail Golf Club/Sorrento, Fla./Second Round Florida State Results
9/14.   Florida State    277  286  563
T11.    Brooks Koepka    69   69   138
T15.    Matt Savage      66   73   139
T26.    Seath Lauer      71   70   141
T49.    Cameron Knight   71   74   145
T64.    Drew Kittleson   71   78   149

2009 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship/Par 71
Red Tail Golf Club/Sorrento, Fla./Second Round Team Results
1.   UCF               545   8.   Georgia State      562
2.   Arizona           547   9.   Florida State      563
3.   Georgia           557   10.  Georgia Southern   572
4.   Charlotte         558   11.  Campbell           574
T5.  South Carolina    560   12.  Augusta State      575
T5.  Kentucky          560   13.  Indiana            578
7.   Iowa              561   14.  Loyola (Md.)       586