Chattanooga sent to Columbus Regional
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team is headed to Ohio State for the 2013 NCAA Columbus Regional. It is the seventh straight regional appearance for the program. The tourney is May 16-18 on the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio.
UTC captured its first regional title last year, coming from behind to beat UCLA and Texas A&M at the South Central Regional in Bowling Green, Ky. Stephan Jaeger’s (2009-12) six-foot birdie putt on 18 clinched a clean sweep as he claimed medalist honors, as well.
The Mocs retained their Southern Conference championship, beating Davidson by two on the Ralston Creek Course at Daniel Island Club near Charleston, S.C. It was the sixth overall crown and fifth in the last seven years for the program.
Twice, Chattanooga has advanced to the NCAA Championship, those coming in 2009 and last year. The field at OSU features 13 schools and 10 more individuals.
The top five teams and one individual on a non-advancing team move on to the NCAA Championship. In total, there are 81 teams and 45 singles at six sites vying for the 30 squad and six solo spots in the finals at the Capital City Crabapple Course in suburban Atlanta.
Georgia Southern lands at-large bid for Columbus Regional
STATESBORO, Ga. – The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee announced its selections for this year’s NCAA Championships on Monday night, and Georgia Southern received an at-large bid to the regional tournament hosted by Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, May 16-18.
It is Georgia Southern’s 21st bid to the NCAA Championships, 10th under head coach Larry Mays and the Eagles’ fourth in the last five seasons.
The Eagles will compete on the par-71, 7,455-yard Scarlet Course at Ohio State University. New Mexico (sixth in Golfstat rankings), Stanford (8), Auburn (18), South Carolina (20), Missouri (29), UNLV (35), Texas Tech (41), Chattanooga (44), San Francisco (57), Virginia (65), Charlotte (68) and Valparaiso (203) join the Eagles (55) in the 13-team field.
Eighty-one teams and 45 individuals have been selected to compete at six regional sites. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course in Atlanta on May 28-June 2.
Led by Southern Conference Golfer of the Year Scott Wolfes, Georgia Southern has won three tournament titles in 2012-13 and finished in the top-5 in six of 11 events.
A first-team all-conference selection for the second consecutive season, Wolfes won two tournaments, placed first or second in five events and posted seven top-10 finishes. The sophomore is the first Eagle to win SoCon Golfer of the Year honors since Logan Blondell in 2009.
Classmate Charlie Martin and junior Will Evans each logged four top-15 outings this season, while junior Hayden Anderson placed in the top 10 three times. Junior Christian Humber joined the quartet at the SoCon Championships, where he tied for 30th.
College of Charleston’s Lorenzetti, Ellis earn individual NCAA bids
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Freshman Josh Lorenzetti and junior Alex Ellis will represent the College of Charleston men’s golf team in NCAA Regional play May 16-18 at The University Club in Baton Rouge, La., the NCAA announced Monday night.
Lorenzetti earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals by virtue of winning medalist honors at the 2013 Southern Conference Men’s Championship. Lorenzetti, the first freshman in CofC men’s golf history to win a conference championship, was the only player to shoot under-par in the SoCon Championship.
Ellis, who earned all-conference honors and finished eighth at the SoCon Championship, recorded four top-10 finishes on the season to receive an at-large bid as an individual in the NCAA Regional field.
With Lorenzetti and Ellis set to compete in the NCAA Regional, it marks the first time since 2003 that the men’s golf team has been represented in postseason competition. It is also the first time the Cougars have had two individuals qualify for postseason play.
Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 16-18. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals.
The finals will be conducted May 28-June 2, at The Capital City Club Crabapple Course in Atlanta, Ga. Georgia Tech is the host institution for this year’s championships.
Western Carolina’s Poston earns at-large individual NCAA bid
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina sophomore men’s golfer J.T. Poston earned an at-large bid Monday night into the Tallahassee, Fla., regional of the 2013 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship to be held May 16-18 at the Golden Eagle Country Club. The announcement came just after 9 p.m. through a live video stream from the NCAA’s official website, NCAA.com.
Poston joins nine other individuals and 13 teams in Tallahassee. He will be flanked in the regional by Southern Conference foe Richard Fountain of Davidson, who also earned an at-large bid.
Overall, the SoCon put two teams – league champion Chattanooga and at-large Georgia Southern – into the field, both in the Columbus, Ohio, region. College of Charleston individuals Alex Ellis and Josh Lorenzetti also made the field, placed in the Baton Rouge, La., regional.
Poston becomes just the second WCU men’s golfer all-time to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA post-season field. He joins former four-time all-conference selection Matt Cook, who earned individual at-large bids into the field in both 2006 and 2007.
Cook and the 2008 Catamount squad garnered an at-large berth as a team to the East Regional at the Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.
With his teammates as well as his father, members of the women’s golf team and representatives from the WCU Athletic Department all looking on, Poston and coach Carter Cheves both anxiously anticipated the announcement, which finally came with the unveiling of the last grouping of individuals in the final region.
Poston finished the 2012-13 regular season ranked second in the SoCon in scoring average per round at 72.19 – the third-best single-season stroke average in school history behind Cook's 2006-07 (71.81) and 2007-08 (72.00) scoring marks.
A product of Hickory, N.C., Poston recorded seven top-10 individual finishes, including a career-best showing in three consecutive weeks in the fall portion of the season. A second-place tie at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate in late October marked his career-best finish, as he shot rounds of 74, 68 and 72 to culminate the three straight weeks of career finishes.
He closed the regular season by placing in a tie for 10th at the SoCon Championship for a second consecutive season. A year after garnering all-freshman honors, Poston was named to the 2013 All-SoCon team for his play during the season and postseason tournament.
Overall, Poston finished the regular season ranked 142 out of the 250 men’s golfers ranked by GolfStat – making him the third-highest ranked golfer in the SoCon. Collectively as a team, the Catamounts finished ranked 134th in the NCAA head-to-head rankings as compiled by GolfStat.
All told, six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 16-18. A total of 81 teams and 45 individuals will compete for the right to advance to the national championship. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals, which will be conducted May 28-June 2, at The Capital City Club Crabapple Course in Atlanta, Ga., hosted by Georgia Tech.
Davidson’s Fountain earns at-large individual NCAA bid
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson’s Richard Fountain has received an at-large selection to compete in the 2013 NCAA Golf Regional in Tallahassee, Fla., May 16-18 at Golden Eagle Golf & Country Club, as announced Monday evening.
Fountain will be making his second NCAA Regional appearance, as the Raleigh, N.C., native competed in the 2011 NCAA tournament after capturing the Southern Conference individual crown as a freshman.
For his career, Fountain holds a 73.70 stroke average, while recording two individual titles, eight top-five finishes and 12 top-10 showings.
After becoming the first Wildcat to earn an NCAA selection in 38 years, Fountain finished tied for 35th with a 54-hole total of 226 (+10) two years ago at The Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech. Prior to his final-round 81, he was tied for fourth entering the last day of competition.
As a team, Davidson concluded the season with a second-place finish at the 2013 SoCon Championship. In addition to their highest showing in 40 years, the Wildcats recorded a pair of team titles this season.
The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Regional is a preliminary round of the NCAA Division I Men's Championship. The Tallahassee Regional will consist of a 54-hole tournament with 13 teams and 10 individual players. The low five teams and low individual not included on those five teams will advance to the NCAA Championship that runs May 28-June 2 at Capital City Club Crabapple Course in Atlanta, Ga.