Huskers Earn NCAA Regional Bid

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln ? The Nebraska men’s golf team earned its first NCAA Regional berth since 1999 by claiming the No. 21 seed in the Central Regional, the NCAA announced on Wednesday.

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The Central Regional will be hosted by ClevelandStateUniversity at the Sand Ridge Golf Club Chardon, Ohio on May 18 ? 20.

 

The NCAA announced its tournament field on Wednesday from Indianapolis, with three regions of 27 teams. In addition to the Huskers’ Central Regional, the East Regional will be held in Orlando, Fla., and the West Regional will be held in Tucson, Ariz.

 

The Central Regional poses a challenging lineup with defending Big 12 champions and No. 13 seed Oklahoma, Atlantic Coast champions and No. 2 seed Georgia Tech, Big Ten champions and No. 9 seed Northwestern, Southland champions and No. 11 seed Lamar, and Mid-American Conference champions and No. 12 seed KentState, among others.

 

Additional Big 12 teams in the regional include top-seeded Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas, Colorado, Missouri, and KansasState for a total of eight Big 12 representatives among the 27 teams.

Named the 52nd-best golf course in America by Golf Digest in 2005, the Tom Fazio-designed Sand Ridge Golf Club will play as a 7,173-yard, par-71 (35-36), with the sixth hole being converted from a par 5 to a 485-yard par 4.

Husker Head Coach Bill Spangler said his team was thrilled about the chance to represent Nebraska at a regional-level tournament and compete for a spot at nationals.

 

“This team is just excited for the opportunity to play, and have the chance to qualify and continue on to nationals,” Spangler said. “With the way the team has been playing this season, we don’t just want to qualify for a spot at nationals, we expect to, and that gives us a lot of momentum heading into Cleveland.”

 

Junior Brady Schnell will lead the team into NCAA Regional play after a successful spring season during which he earned four top-10 spots in five tournaments as well as a 19th-place finish at the Big 12 Championships. Senior Judd Cornell, juniors Drew Reynolds and Ty Capps and Ryan Lenahan will round out Nebraska’s lineup at the tournament.

 

The NCAA Championships will be held May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. The University of Portland is the host for this year’s championships.

 

CENTRAL REGIONAL-May 18-20
Sand Ridge Golf Club- Chardon, Ohio
Hosted by ClevelandStateUniversity

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. OklahomaState
2. Georgia Tech (AtlanticCoast Champion)
3. Texas A&M
4. Clemson
5. Duke
6. Texas
7. Kentucky
8. Tulsa
9. Northwestern (Big Ten Champion)
10. Minnesota
11. Lamar (Southland Champion)
12. KentState (MAC Champion)
13. Oklahoma (Big 12 Champion)
14. TCU
15. Purdue
16. Southern Methodist (Conference USA Champion)
17. Xavier
18. Texas-Arlington
19. Colorado
20. Missouri
21. Nebraska
22. KansasState
23. Eastern Kentucky (OhioValley Champion)
24. ClevelandState (Horizon League Champion)
25. Siena (Metro Atlantic Athletic Champion)
26. Princeton (Ivy Group)
27. St. Francis, Pa. (Northeast Champion)

Individuals:
1. Matt Bortis, Arkansas
2. Kane Hanson, Drake
3. Gary Woodland, Kansas
4. Korey Mahoney, EasternMichigan
5. Patrick Nagle, Illinois
6. Ryan Brehm, MichiganState

Schedule of Events

Wednesday, May 17
Practice Round
(Tee times begin at 8:00 a.m.)

Thursday, May 18
First Round
(Tee times begin at 7:00 a.m.)

Friday, May 19
Second Round
(Tee times begin at 7:00 a.m.)

Saturday, May 20
Third Round
(Tee times begin at 7:00 a.m.)

All four days are open to the public and free of charge.