2012 NCAA Division II Golf Tournament Blog: Ravens Compete in the East/Atlantic Regional
Ravens set for first trip to NCAA Tournament in program history
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 (4:35 p.m.)
The final round of the 2012 NCAA Division II East/Atlantic Regional has been completed. They are now in the process of finalizing scores, so it may be a little bit until an official recap is posted on the site. Plus, the team has a long, six-hour ride ahead of it, so we are going to hit the road.
Official, final results will be available shortly by clicking here.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 (3:25 p.m.)
As we start to wind down the 2012 NCAA Division II East/Atlantic Regional, we wanted to take this opportunity to say what a wonderful time we've had here in Hershey. A special thanks goes out to Millersville University and the Hershey Country Club for welcoming everyone to the event. Their hospitality was outstanding.
Several parents made the trip and it was a pleasure talking with them throughout the rounds as we followed their sons, who were making history as the first team in program history to qualify for the NCAA's.
This has been an exciting event to cover and we hope to get back here in the near future to cover it once again.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 (2:50 p.m.)
All five of the Franklin Pierce golfers are on the back nine and the Ravens are currently in 19th place, eight strokes ahead of AIC, which is in 20th. The Ravens are at +119. Special thanks again to Jon Hower of Millersville University for providing in-round action photos for the second-straight day.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 (1:15 p.m.)
Yesterday, we gave a history lesson on Byron Nelson and his victory in the 1940 PGA Championship, held right here at the Hershey East Course.
Today, our history lesson entails the relationship between Ben Hogan and Hershey. Hogan served as the club pro at Hershey Country Club for 10 years from 1941-51 and several pictures and items are on display in the lobby of the clubhouse, including a signed golf club.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 (12:13 p.m.)
All five Ravens have headed over to the front nine after starting at either 16, 17 or 18, respectively. B.J. Powers and C.J. Konkowski each recorded a par on #18. Below is the video of Powers saving his par from about five feet away.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 (10:44 a.m.)
Final round pairings have been set. Franklin Pierce will be playing with Adelphi, West Chester and American International in the final round. The Ravens will be teeing off on holes 16-18, beginning at either 11 a.m. or 11:10 a.m. The following is the breakdown of where the Ravens will be beginning.
Brian Fleckles (16A, 11 a.m.)
C.J. Konkowski (16B, 11:10 a.m.)
Ian Landry (17, 11 a.m.)
B.J. Powers (18A, 11 a.m.)
Adam Spencer (18B, 11:10 a.m.)
We will have some video highlights of the Ravens on either hole 18 or 1 shortly.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 (10:34 a.m.)
We are approximately 25 minutes from the start of the third and final round. Now that the second round was completed, we have official team and individual standings heading into the final 18 holes.
Freshman C.J. Konkowski is tied for 68th heading into the final round at +23 (165). Officially, he made a jump from 95th to 68th place in one round on Tuesday. Senior co-captain Brian Fleckles is tied for 71st at +24 (166), junior Ian Landry and sophomore Adam Spencer are tied for 76th at +25 (167) and senior co-captain B.J. Powers is 100th at +34 (176).
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 (9:54 a.m.)
GGGGGOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD Morning and welcome back to the Hershey Country Club-East Course in Hershey, Pa. for the third and final round of the 2012 NCAA Division II Tournament East/Atlantic Regional.
Rain limited play in round 2 on Tuesday, so at 7:30 a.m., this morning, the second round was completed. The third round will begin via a shotgun start at 11 a.m. Groupings and what hole Franklin Pierce will start on have not been released yet, but we will update the blog as soon as the pairings are announced.
In the meantime, Franklin Pierce still has a lot to play for as the Ravens look to move up the leaderboard out of 20th place today. They are within range of some familiar opponents, including Northeast-10 Conference foes American International and Adelphi. AIC is in 19th place at 664, while Adelphi is 17th at 656. Franklin Pierce stands at a two-round score of 665.
There are a chance of showers today, but not nearly severe as yesterday's. In fact, the sun peaked out this morning so we hope to play in some sunlight this afternoon.
TUESDAY, MAY 8 (12:28 p.m.)
Franklin Pierce has just wrapped up its second round of the NCAA Tournament and the highlights of the morning came from freshman C.J. Konkowski and junior Ian Landry, who turned in strong rounds. Konkowski fired a five-over-par, 76, while Landry followed with a six-over-par, 77. We caught up with Ian Landry following his round.
The afternoon tee times just got underway approximately 30 minutes ago, so we won't have an official recap until this evening after all scores have been turned in for round two. Then we will know official team and individual standings.
To follow how the afternoon session is going, check out the live stats for the tournament.
TUESDAY, MAY 8 (11:26 a.m.)
We mentioned on Twitter earlier about the history of the Hershey East Course, which served as host to the 1940 PGA Championship won by the legendary Byron Nelson. There is a fantastic display in the lobby of the clubhouse which shows a framed black-and-white photo of Nelson holding the famous Wanamaker Trophy. Also on display is a life-size replica of the Wanamaker Trophy. We have a couple of pics of the impressive display.
TUESDAY, MAY 8 (11:07 a.m.)
Thanks to Millersville's Jon Hower for providing us with some action photos from round two. Everyone associated with running this tournament has done an outstanding job and made us feel more than welcomed.
TUESDAY, MAY 8 (10:35 a.m.)
We caught up with assistant coach Owen Houghton during the second round as the Ravens were making the turn. Coach Owen served as the head coach of the program for more than 20 years prior to moving into the assistant's role three years ago. He reflects on the history of the program and the accomplishments of this year's team.
TUESDAY, MAY 8 (9:23 a.m.)
Scores are starting to come in little by little as the Ravens are currently four-over through six holes reported in round two. Adam Spencer (Jericho, Vt.) is +1 through six holes with his highlight so far being a birdie on hole #4.
Ian Landry (Loudon, N.H.) is also one-over through six. He, too, birdied the fourth hole, which is a 437-yard, par four.
C.J. Konkowski (West Chesterfield, N.H.) is even-par through his first three holes reported. All scores are just for round two.
The Ravens will be starting to make their way to the ninth hole and we will be there live for more updates as they make the turn.
TUESDAY, MAY 8 (8:26 a.m.)
And all five Ravens have begun their second round of the NCAA Tournament. Each of the five tee shots were in good shape and now the Ravens look to start their climb in round two. Here are the opening tee shots of each of the five Ravens.
TUESDAY, MAY 8 (7:05 a.m.)
GGGGOOOOOOODDDDDDDD Morning and welcome back to Hershey, Pa. and the Hershey Country Club-East Course for Round Two of the 2012 NCAA Division II Tournament. The Ravens come into round two in 20th place following a 58-over-par, 342, in the opening round on Monday. Course conditions were rainy and cold yesterday, and more is expected today. However, the heavier rain isn't expected until this afternoon once the Ravens have completed their second round.
Here are the tee times for Round 2 for Franklin Pierce: Adam Spencer (7:30 a.m.); Ian Landry (7:40 a.m.); Brian Fleckles (7:50 a.m.); B.J. Powers (8:00 a.m.); and C.J. Konkowski (8:10 a.m.).
The guys will be teeing off on hole #1 in round two, after starting on hole #10 on Monday. We will be there to get video of all five opening tee shots and will have them right here on this blog shortly.
MONDAY, MAY 7 (5:19 p.m.)
The Ravens have completed their first round of the NCAA Regional. Franklin Pierce currently sits in 20th place with a 342 (+54). Sophomore Adam Spencer (Jericho, Vt.) was the top finisher during the first round as he fired a nine-over-par, 81, to sit in a tie for 55th place.
The recap will be coming shortly, but for the meantime here are some highlights and post-round interviews with Spencer and senior co-captain Brian Fleckles (Sandwich, Mass.).
MONDAY, MAY 7 (3:54 p.m.)
Check out some more action from today's first round with a photo gallery provided by host-school Millersville University.
MONDAY, MAY 7 (1:36 p.m.)
Rain still coming down steady, but the Ravens are battling through it. Franklin Pierce sits in sixth place at 10-over-par, just three strokes back of the lead. Here are a couple of pics from the first few days. The last two are the Ravens teeing off on hole #10, courtesy of Goldey-Beacom SID Eric Rhew.
MONDAY, MAY 7 (1:02 p.m.)
The Ravens have tee'd off and their first round of the NCAA Tournament is underway. The weather is not great right now with steady rain coming down. Scores are varied right now, with a lot of high numbers being posted. Just a reminder, you can follow live scores here.
Franklin Pierce started its round on Hole #10. If the rain holds off, we are hoping to get some video and pics as the guys make the turn close to the clubhouse.
In the meantime, here are some videos from yesterday's practice round. It was a nice day to get 18 holes in and the guys seemed to pick up some valuable nuggets of information about the course.
SUNDAY, MAY 6 (9:45 a.m.)
Greetings from "The Sweetest Place on Earth," Hershey, Pa! The golf team arrived in Hershey yesterday and will hit the links this afternoon with a practice round at the Hershey Country Club-East Course. Tee time is a shotgun start at 1 p.m. We will be at the course this afternoon with some updates about the setup via the blog and Twitter (@FPUathletics).
As previously mentioned, the Ravens drove down from Rindge to Hershey yesterday and a BIG THANKS must go out to the Powers family for hosting the team for lunch at their home in Connecticut. I know all seven members in the van appreciated it. In case you didn't see the pic on Twitter yesterday, here is what the back of the van looked like leaving campus (pretty efficient pack job by the guys if you ask this author).
We'll talk to you later this afternoon from Hershey East.
FRIDAY, MAY 4 (2:01 p.m.)
It's an exciting time of year for Franklin Pierce Athletics. The department is coming off its annual year-end banquet and hall of fame induction ceremony last weekend, the baseball team is entering the home stretch heading into the postseason and the Ravens golf team is getting set to compete in the 2012 NCAA Division II Tournament East/Atlantic Regional next week in "The Sweetest Place on Earth," Hershey, Pa. (Yes ... the land of chocolate bars!) It's also home to one of the best amusement parks in America (Hershey Park) and its myriad of loopy roller coasters. This author is a survivor of each one of those rides! Don't know if any of the guys on the team have ever been to the park, but we'd love to get them on some of those rides to see how they would do.
However, this is a business trip and Franklin Pierce, along with 19 other schools, will compete in the national tournament at the Hershey Country Club-East Course. The regional will be three rounds from Monday through Wednesday, with a practice round scheduled for Sunday.
The team will be heading to Pennsylvania on Saturday and athletics.franklinpierce.edu will be there to cover all the action via this blog. In addition to the daily recaps, we will be providing on-the-course updates through this blog and through our Twitter account at @FPUathletics. We will be posting videos and pics through both sites, so continue to check back for all the latest news next week. Live stats for the regional will also be provided and can be found here.
The starting five for the Ravens remained the same throughout the entire year, including senior co-captains B.J. Powers (Southbury, Conn.) and Brian Fleckles (Sandwich, Mass.), junior Ian Landry (Loudon, N.H.), sophomore Adam Spencer (Jericho, Vt.) and freshman C.J. Konkowski (West Chesterfield, N.H.).
Under the guidance of head coach Greg Scerbinski, this group experienced a lot of success this year, including a second-place finish at the NE-10 Championship back in October, which marked the highest finish in program history. That finish sparked hope the Ravens could reach the NCAA Tournament.
It's also important to mention assistant coach Owen Houghton in this blog. Coach Houghton has been the assistant for the past three seasons after previously serving as the head coach of the program for more than 20 years. This is his first trip to the NCAAs and he's definitely looking forward to the experience. We'll definitely be catching up with him while in PA to get his thoughts on how far the program has come.
Until tomorrow, have a good one and we'll talk to you then.