Six Teams, One Individual Selected for NCAA Regional Action
Complete NCAA release
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has announced the field for the 2019 NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships, and an impressive tally of six teams and one individual from the CCAA have been selected to compete in the West/South Central Regional May 9-11.
Headlining the impressive haul of berths is the West’s No. 1 seed Chico State. The Wildcats have been paced all season long by a lineup of upperclassmen with seniors Kelley Sullivan and Josh McCollum leading the way. Chico State was one of 27 teams to take part in the regional preview back in October and the Wildcats enjoy the course of the NCAA Regional – The Ledges at St. George, Utah.
In that event, Chico State compiled a score of 273-278—551 to go 25-under as a team and take the tournament title. Sullivan led the individual leaderboard going 8-under while teammates Serge Kiriluk and Jordan Oliver both landed in the top 10.
No. 3 seed in the draw is Sonoma State. The Seawolves are coming off a second-place finish at the CCAA Championships where Devin Gregg finished the tournament in third place. Two Sonoma State golfers – Spencer Clapp and Ian Hofmann – remarkably fired off holes in one during the event. Clapp’s came on the 17th hole of the first round, while Hofmann matched his teammate’s ace on the final day of play on the 15th. Placing sixth and the regional preview in the fall, the Seawolves have earned three team victories in 2018-19.
Cal State East Bay enters the regional field at No. 4. Leading the championships after the first 36 holes, the Pioneers placed third in the final standings as Joey Herrera placed fifth to earn All-Tournament Team honors. Leading the Pioneers all season, senior Will Barnett earned four top 10’s with two individual event wins.
The CCAA’s automatic qualifier after taking home both team and individual hardware in their own backyard, Cal State Monterey Bay lands at No. 5 in the West. The Otters head into the NCAA Regional field hot after picking up their team and individual event wins of the season, going 1-2 individually at the CCAA Championships. Senior Matthew Hedges closed the tournament with a final round 68 to best his teammate and last year’s individual medalist Elis Svard by two strokes.
Seventh in the regional field belongs to Stanislaus State. Newcomer Kobie Lockwood has been leading the Warriors squad this season, compiling five Top-10 finishes including a tournament victory to open his career in a Stanislaus State uniform.
Rounding out the CCAA selections, No. 9 UC San Diego is making its first regional appearance since 2014. The Tritons finished in a tie for fourth in the CCAA Championships, compiling an identical score as Chico State on the Black Horse course in Seaside. Junior Justin Woo earned a career-best fourth-place individual finish this week and senior Hayden Hui finished in a tie for eighth.
Along with the six teams representing the conference, Cal State San Bernardino’s Cody Hall earned one of four individual berths to play in the NCAA postseason. Hall led the Coyotes all year, and is making a return to the regionals for back-to-back years.
Now, the field of 80 teams and 32 individuals will be whittled down for the opportunity to compete at the NCAA final site. At a minimum, the top three teams and the top two student-athletes not with a team from each of the four regional fields will advance to the finals May 20-24 at The Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels, West Virginia. The remaining eight team berths will be allocated based on the regions represented in the prior year’s head-to-head medal play portion of the championships, with the maximum number of teams from a given region capped at seven.
SOUTH CENTRAL/WEST REGIONAL
The Ledges Golf Club, St. George, Utah; Dixie State University, host.
South Central Region:
1. Oklahoma Christian [Heartland Conference]
2. St. Mary’s (Texas)
3. Colorado School of Mines [Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference]
4. Western New Mexico
5. Dixie State
6. Midwestern State [Lone Star Conference]
7. Colorado Mesa
8. St. Edward’s
9. Arkansas-Fort Smith
10. Lubbock Christian
Individuals:
1. Chase Carlson, Colorado Christian
2. Nathan McCann, Colorado State Pueblo
3. Lucas McCubbin, Texas A&M-Commerce
4. Jack Duguid, Colorado Springs
West Region:
1. Chico State
2. Western Washington [Great Northwest Athletic Conference]
3. Sonoma State
4. Cal State East Bay
5. Cal State Monterey Bay [California Collegiate Athletic Association]
6. Simon Fraser
7. Stanislaus State
8. Concordia Portland
9. UC San Diego
10. Holy Names [Pacific West Conference]
Individuals:
1. Jared Kinoshita, Hawaii Hilo
2. Cody Hall, Cal State San Bernardino
3. Gabriel De Leon Manotoc, Academy of Art
4. Tyler Fitchett, Saint Martin’s