Frances Leads Men’s Golf at NCAA Stockton Regional

STOCKTON, Calif. – University of Houston senior Alexander Frances fired an even-par 72 to lead the Cougars during the First Round of the NCAA Stockton Regional at The Reserve at Spanos Park on Monday afternoon.

Starting off No. 10, Frances drained a birdie on his second hole of the day on the 543-yard, par-5 11^th hole but returned to even par with a bogey on No. 12. The Stege, Denmark, native finished the day with 15 straight pars to tie for 30^th overall.

As a team, the Cougars finished with a total of 295 to stand in 13^th. No. 16 Stanford held the first-day lead at 278 to stand one stroke in front of No. 4 Arizona State.

Junior Marcus Wochner was tied for 37^th at 73, while junior Austyn Reily was tied for 48^th at 74. Senior Braxton Watkins was tied for 61^st at 76, while redshirt freshman Jacob Borow stood in 75^th at 81.

Denver (282), No. 46 BYU (284), LSU (287) and No. 38 Liberty (287) rounded out the Top-Six with Abilene Christian (289), No. 28 Oregon (290), UC Davis (290), No. 9 Washington (291) and No. 32 Nevada completing the Top-11.

Stanford teammates Barclay Brown and Henry Shimp and Arizona State's Jose Luis Ballester and USC's Jackson Rivera were tied for the individual lead at 68.

BYU teammates Carson Lundell and David Timmins, Carson Griggs (Denver), Cameron Sisk (Arizona State) and Tyler Schafer (Long Beach State) were tied for fifth at 69.

The top five teams and low individual not on an advancing team will compete at the NCAA Championships, set for May 27-June 1 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

This marks the second straight season in which the Cougars advanced to the NCAA Regional under Director of Golf Jonathan Dismuke and the eighth time during his Houston career.

This was the first time the Cougars have played in California since the 2017 NCAA Stanford Regional.

LIVE SCORING
Fans can follow live scoring at the NCAA Stockton Regional on GolfStat by clicking here.

PAIRINGS
For Tuesday's First Round, the Cougars will compete in groups with student-athletes from UAB and individual participants, beginning off No. 10 at 11:20 a.m. (CDT)

Borow begins the day for the Cougars at 11:20 a.m. (CDT), with Watkins (11:31 a.m. CDT), Reily (11:42 a.m. CDT), Wochner (11:53 a.m. CDT) and Frances (12:04 p.m. CDT) following.

Fans can find complete pairings when finalized by clicking here.

NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
This will be Houston's 22^nd team appearance in NCAA Regional play during the program's rich history.

A year ago, the Cougars finished ninth at the NCAA Kingston Springs Regional at Golf Club of Tennessee. Frances opened that tournament with a 69 and tied with Matt Cole for the team lead at 215.

In its history, Houston has recorded nine Top-Five team finishes in NCAA Regional play with four student-athletes capturing individual titles (Michael Perras, 2016 NCAA Franklin Regional; Blair Hamilton, 2015 NCAA Lubbock Regional; Brett Callas, 2003 NCAA Central and Dean Larsson, 1994 NCAA Central).

JOIN PROJECT 17
Fans are invited to join Project 17 to support Houston Men's Golf. Project members provide financial support directly to Houston Men's Golf for needs beyond the program's operating budget.

For information about Project 17 or to join, fans can click here.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarMGolf on Twitter and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarMGolf. Fans also can follow the team on Instagram at uhcougarmgolf.

– UHCougars.com –

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