NEWS
Heffner and ‘Cats Off to Solid Start at Vegas Regional
Alex Heffner
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Behind four sub-par rounds, including a 66 from junior Alex Heffner, Davidson fired a 12-under 276 Monday and sits in a three-way tie for fifth place following the opening round of 2023 NCAA Las Vegas Regional.
The three-day/54-hole regional hosted by UNLV is being played on the Par 72, 7,217-yard Bear’s Best Las Vegas layout. Tomorrow’s second round will begin at 7:25 a.m. The Wildcats will be paired with San Francisco and Oregon State beginning at 8:25 a.m. (PDT) / 11:25 a.m. (EDT) off the 1st tee.
Making their fourth postseason appearance since 2018, the Atlantic 10 Champions will enter tomorrow’s second round tied with No. 21 Oklahoma State and UNCG, four back of fourth-place No. 33 ETSU (-16) and seven behind No. 16 Virginia (-19).
In all, the Wildcats finished day one with 22 combined birdies.
No. 4 Arizona State, one of eight Top-50 teams in the field, leads the way at 26-under, six clear of conference foe and No. 8 Stanford (-20). Just nine shots separate third through 11th place on the tightly contested leaderboard.
Heffner, the 2023 A-10 Individual Champion, is just four off the pace in a tie for seventh after signing for seven birdies and just one dropped shot. The two-time Conference Player of the Year made the turn in 31, highlighted by three straight birdies to close his outward nine.
Redshirt freshman Joshua Stewart (T-19) is two back of his teammate after a four-under 68, while Will Davis and Brian Garrett both carded rounds of 71.
The Sun Devils’ Preston Summerhays holds the top spot on the 75-player individual leaderboard after an impressive round of 10-under 62.
Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted to determine the 30 qualifying teams and six individuals not on those qualifying teams who will compete in the finals. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the finals.
The finals are May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.