UT tied for sixth in NCAA golf; Holmes (70) trails by one

TOLEDO, Ohio — David Holmes stood at 3-under-par after 12 holes and then registered bogeys in three of the next four holes.

His reaction? Excited.

Seriously.

Whereas much of the NCAA men’s golf tournament field at Inverness Club was brutalized by holes 3-7, Tennessee’s Holmes handled them reasonably well on his way to shooting a 1-under 70 during Tuesday’s opening round. Holmes finds himself tied for fourth with four others and just one stroke behind a trio of leaders.

“The last few holes on the front nine are very hard finishing holes,” Holmes, a former standout at West High School, said. “But I’m very happy to start at 1-under.”

The ninth-seed Vols are not as excited to start the tournament in sixth place, for no other reason than they believe there was room to do better. Beginning the day on hole 10, the Vols played well initially, entering the front nine at 3-under. A combined 17 bogeys from there on turned the mood quickly.

At 10-over 294, they are tied with Arizona State and Ohio State and two strokes ahead of ninth place Michigan. Oklahoma State and Georgia are tied atop the leader board at 288 and surprising Chattanooga is in third at 292.

“A little bit of mixed feelings,” UT coach Jim Kelson said. “We got off to a really good start and then holes 3-7 were a really, really difficult stretch. Everyone’s going to make bogeys, we just had a few too many.”

Robin Wingardh, who won the Ping/Golfweek Preview Invitation in the fall at Inverness, shot 73 and is tied for 29th. Tennessee’s top golfer, Chris Paisley, finished at 75 and is tied for 56th, and freshman Darren Renwick was tied for 75th at 76. The 77 by Garrick Porteous was dropped from the team score.

Wingardh said holes 3-7 were shorter, and consequently less taxing, in September.

“They were a little easier in the fall,” Wingardh said. “They were not as long I’d say. I handled them a little better in the fall.”

Because of a new format to the tournament, the individual and team championships will be determined on separate days. The top eight teams based on individual player scoring from Tuesday, today and Thursday will qualify for a match play tournament beginning Friday and ending with Saturday’s championship final.

Arguably the hottest golfer in the field over the past two weeks, Holmes, the Vols’ No. 3 golfer has positioned himself to contend for individual honors. A runner-up at last week’s regional tournament, Holmes is uncorking his best stuff at the right time of the season.

“My confidence has been growing, that’s about it,” he said. “I’m making some putts when it’s important and getting smarter out there on the golf course.”

Tennessee will tee off at 7:47 a.m. today beginning with Porteous.

Notebook: Former Jefferson County standout Jonathan Hodge of Chattanooga shot 74 and former Webb standout Wes Roach of Duke shot 81.