Alex Goff Moves into Contention on Day Two of NCAA Regional
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. – When he gets hot, birdies start to fall and that’s exactly how to describe sophomore Kentucky men’s golfer Alex Goff’s second round at the Noblesville NCAA Regional on Tuesday. Goff ascended 37 spots on the individual leaderboard into a tie for 12th behind his 5-under-par 67 during the second day of competition.
With Goff’s big day, he has cemented himself squarely in contention for the coveted individual spot from the Noblesville Regional to move on to the NCAA Championships later this month. He has some ground to cover, but the round of 67 makes him one to watch during Wednesday’s final round.
“I didn’t score great yesterday, but I honestly didn’t play bad. I only hit two or three bad shots that just killed me, so I had some confidence going into today,” Goff said. “I have nothing to lose, so honestly my goal was just to go out there and swing freely and just play solid golf and that’s what I did. I hit the ball really well and made a few putts, only had one bad swing that led to a double but other than that it was a great round of golf. I’m excited for tomorrow.”
The Kings Mountain, North Carolina, native produced his eighth round of the season in the 60s on Tuesday. It also marked the 18th par-or-better round of his career.
He will open Wednesday’s final round off the No. 1 tee box at 9:53 a.m. ET.
With today’s score, Goff moved into a tie for 12th overall and owns a 1-under scorecard through two rounds. The leaders are in the clubhouse at 6-under. He is in search of being the lowest individual finisher not associated with one of the advancing teams.
Goff was the field’s second-biggest riser on the individual leaderboard. He ascended 37 spots moving from 49th into the top 15. Arkansas State’s Zan Luka Stirn climbed 46 positions but shares the same 1-under score as UK’s sophomore.
North Florida’s Nick Infanti and UNCW’s Blake McShea are the individual leaders at 6-under par.
A day after facing rainy conditions throughout the round, Tuesday’s weather was near perfect with temperatures in the mid-70s under cloudy skies.
Goff opened his round with back-to-back pars to steady his play immediately. His first birdie dropped at the par-four third to move to 1-under. That set up an alternating pattern of birdie-par-birdie-par-birdie as he sunk two more putts at the par-four fifth and the par-five seventh to move to 3-under for the day. His lone setback of the round came in the form of a double-bogey on the par-four ninth.
He responded with consecutive birdies at the turn as he moved back to 3-under with successful makes at the par-four 10th and the par-three 11th. Goff logged a par at the 12th before picking up another shot at the par-four 13th. He notched par scores over the next four holes, before finishing his round in stylish fashion with his seventh birdie of the round at the par-five 18th.
Goff has now generated birdies at the seventh, 10th and 13th during consecutive rounds.
Through 36 holes, Goff ranks tied for second in the field with a 1-under scorecard on the course’s four par-three holes. His 11 combined birdies are also tied for second among the entire field.
Goff paced the Wildcats this season with a 72.28 stroke average, three top-20 finishes, two top-five finishes and a win at The Blessings Collegiate Invitational to open his sophomore campaign.
He registered a number of career bests. His win at the Blessings was a career-low finish. In a third-place finish at the Legends Collegiate Invitational he tallied a career-low round (64) and a career-low 54-hole score (201). Goff was UK’s top finisher in five of eight events he started, including the Southeastern Conference Championship.
The Sagamore Club is a par-72, 7,173-yard Jack Nicklaus Signature design. The club previously hosted an NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regional in 2015 with Illinois and SMU sharing the title. Now-major champion Bryson DeChambeau led SMU that year just weeks before winning the individual national championship. Sagamore was also the site of the 2010 NCAA Division II Men’s Golf National Championships.
The top five teams from each regional, along with the top individual not associated with one of those teams, will advance to the National Championships, May 28-June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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