Michigan Garners Third Straight NCAA Regional Bid
5/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 10, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's golf team received its third straight at-large invitation to an NCAA Regional today (Monday, May 10) and will be the No. 8 seed in the 14-team Central Regional, scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, May 20-22, at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.
The selection marks the 33rd NCAA postseason appearance for the Wolverines and is the program's fifth regional, with previous action at the 1997, 2000 and 2008 Central Regionals and the 2009 Southwest Regional, since the format changed to regional play.
"When you make it to an NCAA Regional, it means you have had a successful season," said U-M head coach Andrew Sapp. "For us to be able to do that again for the third year in a row shows that our program is going in the right direction. We are excited about the opportunity to keep playing.
"Our focus is going to be on playing our best golf and our guys are. They have been working hard since Big Tens and have another week or so to get ready. Even more important is we will have another week to prepare for the course we will be play. We have some young guys in the lineup and we have some some guys who have that veteran leadership we need. Three guys played in last year's regional and NCAA Championship, so we are going to lean on those guys to play well and get us back to the finals. That's what they want to do. That has been their goal all along -- to get back to the national championship. The first step is to play well at the regional and then we will worry about nationals."
There will be a total of six regional sites playing Thursday through Saturday, May 20-22, with 18 holes each day of the 54-hole event. There will be three regional sites with 13 teams and 10 individuals and three regional sites with 14 teams and five individuals.
The top five teams and low individual not on a qualifying team from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, to be held Wednesday through Sunday, June 1-6, at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Wolverines have played against nine of the 14 teams in the NCAA Central Regional field this season. The full listing for the regional includes (with U-M record): Stanford, Florida, Florida State (0-2), Duke (1-1), LSU (0-1), N.C. State (0-1), Iowa (0-2), Michigan, Northwestern (0-4), Indiana (2-1), Virginia Tech (2-2), Murray State (1-0), Detroit and St. Francis (Pa.).
There are five individuals invited to NCAA Central Regional: Michigan State's Jack Newman, Minnesota's Ben Pisani, Purdue's Erich Johnston, Youngstown State's Ryan Stocke and Iona's Doug Hoppe.
The five remaining regional sites for 2010 include: Georgia Tech hosting at the Capital City Club at Crabapple (Alpharetta, Ga.), San Diego State hosting at Carlton Oaks Golf Course (Santee, Calif.), Texas A&M hosting at the Traditions Club (College Station, Texas), Washington hosting at the Gold Mountain Golf Club (Bremerton, Wash.) and Yale hosting at the Course at Yale (New Haven, Conn.).
For the second year, the NCAA champion will be determined through a format that will include stroke play and match play. In finals, the entire 30-team field will play three rounds at the NCAA Championships. At the end of the 54 holes, an individual champion will be crowned and only the top eight teams will advance to a match-play playoff to determine the 2010 team national champion.
Michigan closed the 2009-10 campaign with five top-five finishes in 10 events, winning its home event -- the 2009 Wolverine at Radrick Farms. U-M collected a fourth-place finish at the 2010 Big Ten Championships, being led by sophomore Matt Thompson (Battle Creek, Mich./Lakeview HS), who was the medalist runner-up, and freshman Jack Schultz (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay HS), who finished fifth -- the lowest U-M newcomer performance at the conference event. The Maize and Blue duo was honored with all-tournament selections at the conference event.
U-M is on pace to break the team-scoring record for the third straight season (291.27) and twice shot the second-best team total ever with an 11-under 277 in the second round of the 2009 Bridgestone Intercollegiate and the first round of the 2009 Wolverine at Radrick Farms. Currently, Thompson's 72.30 per-round average is the second-best total in U-M history, while junior Lion Kim (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep) is just behind at 72.39. Schultz was the unanimous selection as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while Thompson and Kim both earned All-Big Ten second team.
Overall, nine Big Ten teams will be represented at an NCAA Regional, with six teams invited and three individuals. The Central Regional, hosted by Notre Dame, features four Big Ten teams and three individuals -- Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan State's Jack Newman, Minnesota's Ben Pisani and Purdue's Erich Johnston. Penn State will play in the East Regional hosted by Yale, while Illinois heads to the Northwest Regional hosted by Washington.
2010 NCAA Central Regional
Warren Golf Course (par 72, 7,020 yards) - Notre Dame, Ind.
Hosted by Notre Dame
Teams
1. Stanford
2. Florida
3. Florida State
4. Duke
5. LSU
6. North Carolina State
7. Iowa
8. Michigan
9. Northwestern
10. Indiana
11. Virginia Tech
12. Murray State
13. Detroit
14. St. Francis (Pa.)
Individuals (5)
1. Jack Newman, Michigan State
2. Ben Pisani, Minnesota
3. Erich Johnston, Purdue
4. Ryan Stocke, Youngstown State
5. Doug Hoppe, Iona
Remaining Regional Sites (May 20-22, 2010)
• East: The Course at Yale (New Haven, Conn.) -- Yale, host
• Southeast: Capital City Club at Crabapple (Alpharetta, Ga.) -- Georgia Tech, host
• Southwest: Traditions Club (Bryan, Texas) -- Texas A&M, host
• West: Carlton Oaks Golf Course (Santee, Calif.) -- San Diego State, host
• Northwest: Gold Mountain Golf Club (Bremerton, Wash.) -- Washington, host
NCAA Finals Site (June 1-6, 2010)
The Honors Course (Chattanooga, Tenn.) -- Chattanooga, host
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
