Men's Golf To Compete At A-10 Championship
05/01/2006 | Men's Golf
May 1, 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Richmond men's golf team will compete in the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship this weekend on the par-72, 6,816-yard Panther Lake Golf Course at the Orange County National Golf Center.
The Spiders are in the hunt for a 2006 NCAA Regional Championship bid and will be going for their first Atlantic 10 Championship when play begins Friday at 8 a.m.
"The guys have been practicing hard," Richmond head coach Adam Decker said. "This is a big week for us, hopefully we can put up some good numbers."
Richmond has finished in the top-five in all four Atlantic 10 Championships it has participated. The Spiders tied for third last spring, took third in 2004, tied for fourth in 2003 and finished fifth in 2002. With the addition of Charlotte to the conference and the fact five team's are in the running for NCAA Regional bids, this looks to be the most competitive Atlantic 10 Men's Golf Championship ever.
"There will be a lot of good competition," Decker said. "The Atlantic 10 has become a very strong golf conference."
The A-10 has five teams aiming for NCAA Regional bids with nationally ranked Charlotte, defending conference champion Xavier, Rhode Island, George Washington and Richmond all in contention. The winner of the Atlantic 10 Championship receives an automatic bid, but the conference has never even had three teams make the NCAA Regionals in the same year. Two teams have advanced to the NCAA Regionals on five different occasions, all coming since 1996.
Richmond and George Washington could be battling each other for a spot in the regional at this weekend's Atlantic 10 Championship as both teams are vying for one of four spots from the Mid-Atlantic 10 Region. The Spiders have made three NCAA Regional appearances in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Richmond advanced to the NCAA National Championships in 1999.
In the latest Golfstat NCAA Rankings, Maryland was ranked first in the Mid-Atlantic Region and 71st in the country. George Washington was second in the Mid-Atlantic and 148th in the nation, one spot ahead of the Spiders, who were 149th in the nation and second in the region. Penn State is ranked fourth in the Mid-Atlantic and 156th overall and Liberty is fifth in the region and 157th overall.
Richmond will be bringing one senior, one junior, two sophomores and a freshman to the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship.
Sophomore Jordan Utley, who tied for 13th at last year's Atlantic 10 Championship, leads the team with a 73.5 stroke average. He has posted five top-five finishes in the 2005-06 season, including the last three tournaments. The two-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Week has played five of his last eight rounds at even-par or below.
Senior Tyler Randol and sophomore Chris Bagley are tied for second on the team with 74.6 stroke averages. Each has posted a pair of top-10 finishes in 2005-06. Bagley has led the Spiders in two tournaments, while Randol was the top-Richmond finisher in one tournament. At the 2005 Atlantic 10 Championship, Bagley tied for 20th and Randol tied for 25th. Randol tied for 22nd at the 2004 A-10 Championship.
Freshman Tim Courtney is fourth on the team with a 75.1 stroke average, having finished in the top-25 of six tournaments this year. Courtney earned Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors five times this year and will be in contention for the conference championships' Most Outstanding Rookie Award.
Junior John Pelet will be returning to the lineup after finishing 17th competing as an individual at Penn State's Rutherford Intercollegiate. Pelet finished seventh at the 2003 Atlantic 10 Championship as a freshman, missing all-conference honors by one spot. He tied for 17th at last year's conference tournament. Pelet, who qualified for the 2005 U.S. Amateur, has a 76.4 stroke average this year.
In four A-10 Championship appearances, the Spiders have had four all-conference selections - awarded to the top-six finishers at the conference tournament. Kyle Hess was a two-time All-Atlantic 10 selection after finishing third in 2004 and fifth in 2003. Steve Lessing earned all-conference honors for taking sixth in 2004 and Steven Sherck tied for sixth last spring.
Check back at RichmondSpiders.com each evening for a recap and results from each day's play.