Men's Golf Selected To NCAA Championships
05/08/2006 | Men's Golf
May 8, 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Richmond men's golf team earned a bid to the NCAA Men's Golf Championships for the first time since 2001 and will compete in the 2006 NCAA East Regional Championship, May 18-20 at Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.
This is the fourth NCAA Regional appearance for the Spiders, who made three-straight trips from 1999-2001. Richmond advanced out of the 1999 NCAA East Regional to earn a spot in the NCAA National Championships, their only trip to the NCAA Nationals in school history.
"We're thrilled to playing in the East Regional," first-year Richmond head coach Adam Decker said. "This was one of our team's goals all season long and the guys have played really hard to achieve it. We're excited to have the opportunity to advance to the NCAA finals in Oregon. We're going to practice hard this week and give it our best shot down there."
Richmond earned an at-large bid as the third seed of four Mid-Atlantic Region teams to make the field. The Spiders are the 24th seed in the 27-team East Regional and are one of a record five teams from the Atlantic 10 Conference to earn bids to the NCAA Championships.
Four of the Atlantic 10 teams are playing in the East Regional with conference champion Charlotte as the ninth seed in the East, followed by Rhode Island (22), George Washington (23) and Richmond (24). Xavier is the 17th seed in the Central Regional.
The East Regional is one of three, 27-team regionals that will be held May 18-20. The top 10 teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from each regional to the NCAA National Championship, May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon. The last Atlantic 10 team to advance to the NCAA National Championships was Rhode Island in 2004.
Richmond just returned from Orlando, Fla. after finishing fourth in the Atlantic 10 Championship. Junior John Pelet tied for fifth and sophomore Jordan Utley tied for ninth, as both earned all-conference honors. The Spiders finished at 5-under-par as a team, their lowest finish under par this season.
Listed below are the teams and individuals selected to participate in the championships. Teams winning automatic qualification are designated by their conferences in parentheses.
EAST REGIONAL- May 18-20 Lake Nona Golf-Orlando, Florida Hosted by the University of Central Florida Teams (seeded in the following order): 1. Georgia (Southeastern) 2. UCLA (Pacific-10) 3. UNLV 4. Georgia State (Colonial) 5. North Carolina 6. Southern California 7. Texas Tech 8. Wake Forest 9. Charlotte (Atlantic 10) 10. Coastal Carolina (Big South) 11. Auburn 12. Tennessee 13. South Carolina 14. Florida State 15. Indiana 16. Notre Dame (Big East) 17. Georgia Southern (Southern) 18. Maryland 19. Jacksonville (Atlantic Sun) 20. Western Illinois (Mid-Continent) 21. Wichita State (Missouri Valley) 22. Rhode Island 23. George Washington 24. Richmond 25. Liberty 26. Army 27. Binghamton Individuals: 1. Luke List, Vanderbilt 2. Daniel Willett, Jacksonville State 3. Matt Cook, Western Carolina 4. Garrett Osborne, Alabama-Birmingham 5. Shawn Hall, Charleston Southern 6. Scott Stallings, Tennessee TechCENTRAL REGIONAL-May 18-20 Sand Ridge Golf Club- Chardon, Ohio Hosted by Cleveland State University Teams (seeded in the following order): 1. Oklahoma State 2. Georgia Tech (Atlantic Coast) 3. Texas A & M 4. Clemson 5. Duke 6. Texas 7. Kentucky 8. Tulsa 9. Northwestern (Big Ten) 10. Minnesota 11. Lamar (Southland) 12. Kent State (MAC) 13. Oklahoma (Big 12) 14. TCU 15. Purdue 16. Southern Methodist (Conference USA) 17. Xavier 18. Texas-Arlington 19. Colorado 20. Missouri 21. Nebraska 22. Kansas State 23. Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley) 24. Cleveland State (Horizon League) 25. Siena (Metro Atlantic Athletic) 26. Princeton (Ivy Group) 27. St. Francis (Pennsylvania) (Northeast) Individuals: 1. Matt Bortis, Arkansas 2. Kane Hanson, Drake 3. Gary Woodland, Kansas 4. Korey Mahoney, Eastern Michigan 5. Patrick Nagle, Illinois 6. Ryan Brehm, Michigan State
WEST REGIONAL-May 18-20 Tucson National Golf Club- Tucson, Arizona Hosted by the University of Arizona Teams (seeded in the following order): 1. Florida 2. Arizona State 3. BYU 4. East Tennessee State 5. Baylor 6. Alabama 7. Arizona 8. San Diego State 9. North Carolina State 10. Washington 11. New Mexico (Mountain West) 12. Stanford 13. Houston 14. Pepperdine 15. Louisville 16. Denver 17. Santa Clara 18. New Mexico State (Western Athletic) 19. Fresno State 20. UC-Irvine 21. Nevada 22. San Diego 23. Cal Poly (Big West) 24. Western Kentucky (Sun Belt) 25. Loyola Marymount (West Coast) 26. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic) 27. Bucknell (Patriot League) Individuals: 1. Graham Delaet, Boise State 2. Dustin Pimm, Utah 3. Chadd Cocco, St. Mary's (California) 4. Ryan Witz-Washington State 5. Ryan Wood, Long Beach State 6. Derek Whiting, Colorado State