Monday, May 6, 2013

DUPONT, Wash. -  Nine of the nation’s Top 25 ranked NCAA Division II men’s golf teams in the latest Golf World/Nike Coaches poll and 16 of the Top 50 players based on stroke average will compete in the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf South Central/West Regional beginning Monday at The Home Course.

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Saint Martin's University and Western Washington University are the hosts for the three-day tournament. The 54-hole event is also being supported by the Tacoma South Sound Sports Commission and the Washington State Golf Association.

A total of 108 golfers from the West and South Central regions will compete for an opportunity to advance to the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships May 20-24 in Hershey, Penn. The top five team finishers along with two individuals will qualify for the national tournament.

Cal State Monterey Bay, which is ranked first in the West Region, is the highest ranked team in the national poll at No. 6. Also in the Top 10 is Abilene Christian at No. 8 and Western Washington at No. 10. 

In the second 10 is Grand Canyon at No. 11, Cal State Stanislaus at No. 12, Hawaii Hilo at No. 17 and Colorado Mines at No. 20.  CSU Stanislaus won the West/Central Regional last season.

Completing the Top 25 is Chico State at No. 24 and Midwestern State at No. 25.  Chico was the West/Central Regional runner-up last season before finishing first in the stroke play portion of the national tournament.

Alex Carpenter of Abilene Christian is the top player coming into the tournament based on averages on GolfStat.com.  He is averaging 71.55 strokes per 18 holes and ranks third nationally.  Michael Lee of Colorado Mines ranks eighth nationally with a 72.04.  Brandon Bingaman of Mesa State ranks 13th (72.38) and Eddie DeLashmutt of Colorado Springs ranks 17thwith a 72.57 average.

The top scorer from the West Region is Alec Dahlquist of Grand Canyon.  He is ranked 20th nationally averaging 72.71 strokes .01 better than 22nd ranked Cozey Kozuma of Hawaii Hilo (72.72).

Other West Region players in the Top 50 include Mark Geddes of Grand Canyon at No. 31 (73.14), Jered Stone of CSU Monterey Bay at No. 32 (73.17), Jake Webb of Western Washington at No. 36 (73.27), Kenny You of Dixie State at No. 40 (73.36), teammates Paul Smith and Rob Damschen of Cal State Stanislaus, who are tied for 42nd (73.40), and Anton Rosen of Monterey Bay at No. 44 (73.42).

Also in the Top 50 are three other golfers from the South Central Region – Jordan Arndt and John Ahern of Colorado Mines at No. 28 (73.04) and No. 46 (73.44), respectively, and Derek Oland of Midwestern State at No. 48 (73.48).

The top returning finisher from last year’s West/Central Regional is Alex Sobstad of Monterey Bay who finished third with a four-under par 212 total.  

Ryan Mahoney and Brandon Moore of Grand Canyon tied for fifth with 216 scores in the tournament which was held at Litchfield Park, Ariz.  James Berry of Colorado State Pueblo was 10th a year ago with a 217 total.

Trey Lawson of Cameron finished fourth last year in the Midwest/South Regional.

Seventeen of the 20 team qualifiers competed in a regional a year ago – 13 in the West/Central Regional and four in the Midwest/South Central regional.

Twelve of the 20 qualifiers also competed in the Saint Martin’s Region Preview tournament April 8-9 at The Home Course.

Western Washington won that tournament with a 54-hole total of 857.  Grand Canyon finished second with a 863 team score, two ahead of Sonoma State, three in front of Hawaii Hilo and six ahead on Monterey Bay.

Gage Huft of Montana State Billings was the medalist  with a score of nine-under par 207.  Huft had rounds of 69, 72 and 66 on the par-72 course which will play at 7,138 yards Monday, 7,106 on Tuesday and 7,073 on Wednesday.

Fans can follow the action on GolfStat.com.  Scores will be updated for each golfer every three holes.

NCAA Division II West/South Central Qualifiers and Monday’s Tee Times

West – 1. Cal State Monterey Bay (7:30-8:10 a.m. on #1).  2. Western Washington (7:30-8:10 a.m. on #1). 3. Grand Canyon (7:30-8:10 a.m. on #10). 4. Cal State Stanislaus (8:20-9 a.m. on #1).  5. Hawaii Hilo (8:20-9 a.m. on #1).  6. Sonoma State (8:20-9 a.m. on #10). 7. Chico State (Noon-12:40 on #1).  8. UC San Diego (Noon-12:40 on #1).  9. Cal State East Bay (Noon-12:40 p.m. on #10).  10. Dixie State (12:50-1:30 p.m. on #1).  Individual Qualifiers (12:50-1:30 p.m. on #1 or #10). – 1. Shearn Chua, CSU San Bernardino; 2. Gage Huft, MSU Billings; 3. Ben Fosnick, Saint Martin’s; 4. Brandon Moore, Saint Martin’s.

South Central – 1. Colorado School of Mines (7:30-8:10 a.m. on #1).   2. Midwestern State (7:30-8:10 a.m. on #10). 3. Abilene Christian (7:30-8:10 a.m. on #10).  4. Cameron (8:20-9 a.m. on #1). 5. Colorado – Colorado Springs (8:20-9 on #10),  6. St. Edward’s (8:20-9 a.m. on #10). 7. Dallas Baptist (Noon-12:40 on #1).  8. Colorado State Pueblo (Noon-12:40 p.m. on #10).  9. Incarnate Word (Noon-12:40 p.m. on #10).  10. Western New Mexico (12:50-1:30 p.m. on #1). Individual Qualifiers (12:50-1:30 p.m. on #1 or #10)  – 1. Myles Miller, Newman; 2. Brandon Bingaman, Colorado Mesa; 3. Logan Leggett, West Texas A&M; 4. C.J. Clem, Texas A&M – Commerce.