BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s golf team accepted an invitation from the NCAA Selection Committee on Monday to compete as the No. 13 seed in the NCAA West Regional, which will be played at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., from May 15-17.
This marks the first time that the Tigers will tee it up in NCAA postseason play since qualifying for the NCAA West Regional at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif., in 2005.
“This is a big step in the right direction for our program,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “We earned a postseason berth with the youngest lineup in the Southeastern Conference, and I know that our guys are excited about playing in the postseason and having the opportunity to earn a spot on the biggest stage in college golf at the NCAA Championships.
“I’m proud of our guys for how hard they’ve worked this season to reach this point, and it’s going to be a great experience to compete in what might be the toughest of the three regionals.”
A total of 81 teams and 18 individuals from teams not competing in NCAA postseason play were chosen to participate at three regional sites, including the East Regional at Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn., the Central Regional at Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio, and the West Regional at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.
The top 10 teams from each regional site and the top two individuals not among the top 10 teams will qualify to compete in the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships at Boilermaker Golf Club in West Lafayette, Ind., from May 28-31.
The top seed in the is the nation’s No. 2 overall seed in Southern California, while No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 Clemson round out the top five seeds in the region.
Rounding out the 27-team regional field in order of seeding are UNLV, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Central Florida, Arizona State, San Diego State, Texas, LSU, Oregon State, Pepperdine, Oregon, California, St. Mary’s, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Washington, Oklahoma, Kansas State, San Diego, Denver, Navy and Columbia.
“This is going to be a new experience for our guys,” Winstead said. “The reality is that we don’t have anybody on our team that has played this style golf course. This will be their first time to see as course like this with bluegrass. While we may not have chosen to play in the West Regional, I have no doubt that our guys will be better players after competing in a tournament like this.
“The only way a team is able to grow and mature is through competition, and this is going to be a great experience for our team for that simple reason.”
The Tigers are one of 11 teams in the SEC to qualify for NCAA Regional play, including Georgia, South Carolina, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State in the East Regional; Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas in the Central Regional; and Kentucky in the West Regional.
Despite being ranked among the Top 50 teams in the nation in the latest Golfstat poll, Vanderbilt is the only team in the SEC that did not receive an NCAA Regional bid on Monday due to the newly adopted rule that teams must have a winning record in head-to-head competition to qualify.
“The SEC is by far the strongest conference in the country year in and year out, and it’s, not only because of the rankings. The only number you have to look at is the fact that 11 of the 12 teams are in the postseason,” Winstead said. “The only reason Vanderbilt isn’t in the field is because of their head-to-head record. They would have been a lock otherwise.”
EAST REGIONAL- May 15-17
Council Fire Golf Club ? Chattanooga, Tennessee
Hosted by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Georgia
2. Charlotte (Atlantic 10 Conference)
3. South Carolina
4. Duke
5. Chattanooga (Southern Conference)
6. Auburn
7. East Tennessee State
8. Michigan State (Big Ten Conference)
9. Mississippi
10. UAB (Conference USA)
11. Virginia Tech
12. North Carolina State
13. Mississippi State
14. Georgia State (Colonial Athletic Conference)
15. North Florida (Atlantic Sun Conference)
16. UC Irvine (Big West Conference)
17. Augusta State
18. SMU
19. Middle Tennessee
20. Coastal Carolina (Big South Conference)
21. Memphis
22. Virginia
23. Western Carolina
24. Colorado State (Mountain West Conference)
25. New Mexico State (Western Athletic Conference)
26. Western Illinois (The Summit League)
27. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Individuals:
1. Keegan Bradley, St. John’s (New York)
2. Jose Toledo, New Orleans
3. Johnny Caldwell, South Alabama
4. Michael McGrady, Troy
5. Jon Curran, Vanderbilt
6. Grant Leaver, Austin Peay State
CENTRAL REGIONAL-May 15-17
Scarlet Golf Course ? Columbus, Ohio
Hosted by The Ohio State University
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Alabama (Southeastern Conference)
2. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
3. Georgia Tech
4. Florida
5. Tennessee
6. Lamar (Southland Conference)
7. Wake Forest
8. Indiana
9. Texas A&M
10. Louisville
11. Wichita State (Missouri Valley Conference)
12. Kent State
13. Penn State
14. Arkansas
15. Michigan
16. TCU
17. Texas-Arlington
18. Illinois
19. Ohio State
20. Baylor
21. Colorado
22. Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley Conference)
23. Marquette (Big East Conference)
24. Eastern Michigan (Mid-American Conference)
25. Cleveland State (Horizon League)
26. Loyola (Maryland) (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
27. Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference)
Individuals:
1. Chris Baker, Iowa State
2. Clayton Rask, Minnesota
3. Josh Sandman, Notre Dame
4. Victor Almstrom, Minnesota
5. Brent Long, Western Kentucky
6. Jordan Weber, Northern Iowa
WEST REGIONAL-May 15-17
Gold Mountain Golf Club ? Bremerton, Washington
Hosted by University of Washington
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Southern California
2. UCLA
3. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference)
4. Stanford
5. Clemson
6. UNLV
7. North Carolina
8. Texas Tech
9. Central Florida
10. Arizona State (Pacific-10 Conference)
11. San Diego State
12. Texas
13. LSU
14. Oregon State
15. Pepperdine
16. Oregon
17. California
18. St. Mary’s (California)
19. Kentucky
20. Wisconsin
21. Washington
22. Oklahoma
23. Kansas State
24. San Diego (West Coast Conference)
25. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
26. Navy (The Patriot League)
27. Columbia (Ivy Group)
Individuals:
1. Troy Merritt, Boise State
2. Brian Locke, Loyola Marymount
3. Tarquin Macmanus, Arizona
4. Jason D’Amore, Loyola Marymount
5. Nathan Stamey, North Carolina-Greensboro
6. Jimmy Lytle, Elon