Baard Skogen wins regional, leads Texas Tech golf to NCAA championships tournament
Texas Tech men's golfers were able to hitch their cart to Ludvig Aberg and go a long way the past few years.
Even with the Swedish sensation, who's now tearing up the PGA Tour, the Red Raiders were much more than a one-man team. They showed it the past three days.
Baard Skogen shot 8-under par for 54 holes to win the individual title, Calum Scott tied for second and the two Europeans led the Red Raiders to a third-place finish in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional that concluded Wednesday.
Skogen, coming off back-to-back rounds of 71, closed with a 6-under 66 in the final round at The University Club in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The senior from Norway finished two strokes ahead of three players. One of the three at 6-under was Scott, the junior from Scotland, who followed up a 70 and a 73 with a 5-under 67 on Wednesday.
"It's not top-heavy like last year, where I think a lot of guys were waiting on Ludvig to play and do his thing," Tech coach Greg Sands said last week. "We've all picked up the slack. This team's got an identity that's a little bit different than others.
"We know when we play good, we've shown we can win big-time golf tournaments and compete against the best players in the country. ... We know when we play good, our upside is there."
Skogen and Scott were among five of the top seven finishers who broke 70 in the final round.
Tech's Matthew Comegys (75-70-74) tied for 23rd in a field of 80 players at 3-over, Tyran Snyders (76-73-72) tied for 29th at 5-over and Vicente Marzilio (76-75-72) tied for 38th at 7-over.
More: Ludvig Aberg pulls weight on winning Ryder Cup team
Last year's finale: Tech drops playoff to Ohio State at NCAA tournament
Auburn won the team championship, shooting 21-under. Behind the Tigers were Virginia at 13-under, Tech at 8-under, Ohio State at even par and host LSU at 4-over. Those five teams advance to the NCAA championships final site to compete May 24-29 in Carlsbad, California.
Houston, Duke and South Carolina missed the cut to the national tournament by two, five and seven shots, respectively.
It's the 16th time the Tech men's golf program has qualified for the national tournament, the 12th under coach Greg Sands. It's also the fourth year in a row the Red Raiders have made it out of a regional.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Baard Skogen wins regional, leads Texas Tech golf to national tournament
