DANIELS, W.V. – For the last year-and-a-half Chase Carlson was in a funk. His collegiate success that he earned during his first events was eluding him. However over the last two weeks, the junior found his groove once again and showed why he is one of the best in the sport.
At the NCAA Division II National Championship hosted at The Resort at Glade Springs Carlson held the lead at times and was always in contention for the title before posting a third-place finish with a 54-hole total of 210 (-6).
Last week he earned qualification into the National Championships by winning the West/South Central Super Regional title. He has found his groove again.
His third-place finish is the highest ever for a Colorado Christian student-athlete at an NCAA Championship competition. Carlson also becomes the third men's golfer in Colorado Christian history to earn NCAA All-American status.
FIRST ROUND RECAP: An up-and-down beginning to his first 18 holes still have Carlson in contention for a solid finish. At the end of the day he was in a 12-way tie for 13th place.
He started strong with birdies on four of his first seven holes with a bogey mixed-in. However, he finished the day at an even par 72 as he played the final 11 holes at three-over par. Unfortunately a triple bogey on hole-10 put him in a tough spot to start the back nine. Carlson did par the next seven holes before finishing the day with a birdie on the 18th hole.
SECOND ROUND RECAP: Carlson was a big mover on the second day of competition. He moved-up 11 spots and was tied with Alex Scott of Grand Valley State for the second spot heading into the final round. His five-under par 67 was tied for the third best round of the day.
He started the round on the back nine and promptly birdied four holes, with one bogey, to move to three-under overall at the event's halfway mark.
The junior eagled the par-five second hole, his 11th hole of the day, to move to five-under par and slide into a first place tie. His final seven holes were played at even par with a pair of birdies, two bogeys and three holes played at even par.
FINAL ROUND RECAP: Entering the last round he was one stroke off the lead and momentarily moved into a first place tie during the final round. He closed his season with a one-under par 71 with a five-birdie, four-bogey round.
Starting on the first hole, he began his final 18 holes with five straight pars before notching a birdie on the par-four sixth hole. After a bogey on the seventh hole, he rebounded with a birdie on the eighth hole to take the turn towards the back nine at one-under par for the round and six-under par overall. As he entered the back nine, he was one stroke off the leader.
A birdie on the 10th hole put him back into a tie for first place at seven-under par. However a bogey on the 11th hole put him back into a tie for second place at six-under par. Another bogey on the 13th hole put him four strokes out of the lead. Carlson recorded two birdies and a bogey during the final five holes.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: During the National Championships he carded 16 birdies which was tied for the most in the 108-person field. His 3.90 scoring average on par-four holes was third best.
QUOTABLE: "He felt a burden lifted when he won Super Regionals. Even in the fall he was ranked among the best in the country and even though his ranking was dropping he kept battling," said head coach Mark Hull. "Chase is a great player. He could have won this tournament but he just had a few mistakes here and there. It was a hard course and overall he played it well."
UP NEXT: The collegiate season comes to a close for Carlson. He will compete for a spot at the U.S. Open during sectional qualifying on June 3.
