TicketsUniversity of Cincinnati senior Austin Squires (Union, Ky./Ryle High School) saw his Bearcats career come to a close Wednesday when he finished play at the NCAA Championships Stanford Regional tying for 33rd place at 4-over 69-69-76=214.
Squires battled difficult weather conditions Wednesday in posting a 6-over 76 score. He made the turn at 1-over 36 with a birdie and six par scores to offset a pair of bogies. He struggled with a 5-over 40 on the back nine compiling a trio of bogies and five par scores before taking a double bogie on his final hole.
"The conditions were very difficult today," UC head coach Doug Martin said. "Teeing off last was unfortunate today because the wind picked up as the day went along. But it wasn't really his day on the course."
Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams, including Squires, were competing at Stanford. Only one individual not from one the of the five advancing teams moved on to finals of the NCAA Championships, May 26-31, at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
Squires ended 10 strokes behind Utah's Kyler Dunkle, who earned the individual qualifying invitation after posting a 6-under 69-67-68=204, tying for sixth overall. Stanford's Isaiah Salinda claimed medalist honors, carding a 10-under 66-67-67=200.
Host Stanford finished atop the team standings at 23-under 282-275-286=843. Arizona State (11-under 283-272-274=829) and North Carolina (11-under 280-275-274=829) tied for second. Georgia Southern took fourth at 6-under 278-278-278=834. LSU grabbed fifth at 2-over 287-273-282=842.
Despite the result, Squires arguably recorded the best career in UC program history. The only Bearcat to compete in multiple NCAA Championships, Squires carved more than four strokes off his average from his freshman campaign, to qualify for the 2017 NCAA regional in West Lafayette, Ind.
The 2017 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Squires earned all-conference accolades three times in his career, including unanimous selection twice. He lowered his stroke average every season to a school-record 70.62 in 2018-19.
Squires ranked 55th in the nation according to GolfStat rankings entering the 2019 NCAA Tournament. He took second place at the 2019 AAC Championships in April and never finished outside the Top 16 in any of UC's 11 tournaments this season.
Academically, he was named to the Dean's List and Bearcats Honor Roll every semester of his career and received the Jimmy Nippert Award in 2019, honoring the top male student-athlete at UC who achieves great success in academics, athletics and community service.
Squires twice competed in the U.S. Amateur (2017, 2018), advancing to the quarterfinals of match play a year ago. He will participate in the event for the third consecutive year later this summer before beginning his professional career.
"What he did on the golf course while at UC was incredible and it was matched by what he accomplished off the course and in classroom," Martin said. "He was the consummate student-athlete.
"He was an absolute pleasure to coach. He always asked questions and wanted to learn," Martin added. "It's tough to see him go. That's the case with all seniors in your program, you develop relationships with them and their time goes by so fast.
"Austin has a bright future, a great career in from of him and it's going to be fun to watch."
// TEAM STANDINGS
1 – Stanford 274-271-272=817 (-23)
T2 – Arizona State 283-272-274=829 (-11)
T2 – North Carolina 280-275-274=829 (-11)
4 – Georgia Southern 278-278-278=834 (-6)
5 – LSU 287-273-282=842 (+2)
6 – Ole Miss 282-275-286=843 (+3)
7 – Virginia 286-283-278=847 (+7)
T8 – South Florida 282-283-284=849 (+9)
T8 – NC State 290-278-281=849 (+9)
10 – Kansas 288-283-281=852 (+12)
11 – UNCG 275-286-297=858 (+18)
12 – Denver 288-300-284=872 (+32)
13 – Augusta 302-288-286=876 (+36)
Squires battled difficult weather conditions Wednesday in posting a 6-over 76 score. He made the turn at 1-over 36 with a birdie and six par scores to offset a pair of bogies. He struggled with a 5-over 40 on the back nine compiling a trio of bogies and five par scores before taking a double bogie on his final hole.
"The conditions were very difficult today," UC head coach Doug Martin said. "Teeing off last was unfortunate today because the wind picked up as the day went along. But it wasn't really his day on the course."
Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams, including Squires, were competing at Stanford. Only one individual not from one the of the five advancing teams moved on to finals of the NCAA Championships, May 26-31, at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
Squires ended 10 strokes behind Utah's Kyler Dunkle, who earned the individual qualifying invitation after posting a 6-under 69-67-68=204, tying for sixth overall. Stanford's Isaiah Salinda claimed medalist honors, carding a 10-under 66-67-67=200.
Host Stanford finished atop the team standings at 23-under 282-275-286=843. Arizona State (11-under 283-272-274=829) and North Carolina (11-under 280-275-274=829) tied for second. Georgia Southern took fourth at 6-under 278-278-278=834. LSU grabbed fifth at 2-over 287-273-282=842.
Despite the result, Squires arguably recorded the best career in UC program history. The only Bearcat to compete in multiple NCAA Championships, Squires carved more than four strokes off his average from his freshman campaign, to qualify for the 2017 NCAA regional in West Lafayette, Ind.
The 2017 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Squires earned all-conference accolades three times in his career, including unanimous selection twice. He lowered his stroke average every season to a school-record 70.62 in 2018-19.
Squires ranked 55th in the nation according to GolfStat rankings entering the 2019 NCAA Tournament. He took second place at the 2019 AAC Championships in April and never finished outside the Top 16 in any of UC's 11 tournaments this season.
Academically, he was named to the Dean's List and Bearcats Honor Roll every semester of his career and received the Jimmy Nippert Award in 2019, honoring the top male student-athlete at UC who achieves great success in academics, athletics and community service.
Squires twice competed in the U.S. Amateur (2017, 2018), advancing to the quarterfinals of match play a year ago. He will participate in the event for the third consecutive year later this summer before beginning his professional career.
"What he did on the golf course while at UC was incredible and it was matched by what he accomplished off the course and in classroom," Martin said. "He was the consummate student-athlete.
"He was an absolute pleasure to coach. He always asked questions and wanted to learn," Martin added. "It's tough to see him go. That's the case with all seniors in your program, you develop relationships with them and their time goes by so fast.
"Austin has a bright future, a great career in from of him and it's going to be fun to watch."
// TEAM STANDINGS
1 – Stanford 274-271-272=817 (-23)
T2 – Arizona State 283-272-274=829 (-11)
T2 – North Carolina 280-275-274=829 (-11)
4 – Georgia Southern 278-278-278=834 (-6)
5 – LSU 287-273-282=842 (+2)
6 – Ole Miss 282-275-286=843 (+3)
7 – Virginia 286-283-278=847 (+7)
T8 – South Florida 282-283-284=849 (+9)
T8 – NC State 290-278-281=849 (+9)
10 – Kansas 288-283-281=852 (+12)
11 – UNCG 275-286-297=858 (+18)
12 – Denver 288-300-284=872 (+32)
13 – Augusta 302-288-286=876 (+36)