New Mexico State, Fresno State and Nevada's Jared Becher begin play Thursday in the men's golf regionals.
The New Mexico State men's golf team will be the No. 12 seed at the Carlton Oaks Golf Course in San Diego, Calif and Fresno State is the 10th seed at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. Becher was invited as an individual and will compete in the same regional as New Mexico State.
"San Diego is a place that we go and play almost every year so we are familiar with that area," New Mexico State head coach Scott Lieberwirth said. "Looking at the draws I don't see one that is easy but I think this is one of the more favorable regional tournaments we could have gone too. It's a good golf course. I played there a few times in college. I think this is a great place for us to be selected."
This is the third straight trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament for the Aggies. NM State won its fourth WAC Championship last week, earning a spot at the regional tournament.
The Aggies will send Tim Madigan, Ryan Word, Gaston De La Torre, Justin Shin and Justin Knauber to the regional tournament. Madigan, Word and De La Torre all competed in the 2009 regional tournament.
Despite a disappointing sixth place finish at the WAC Championships last week, Fresno State head coach Mike Watney will take his team to the NCAA tournament for the 26th time in his 32 years as the Bulldog's coach. Watney was named the 2010 WAC Coach of the Year after leading his team to a WAC-best stroke average of 288.32 and coached first-team All-WAC player Bhavik Patel, who competed in the 2009 NCAA championship tournament as individual.
"I'm very excited and it's good to quality for NCAAs," said Watney. "I love doing it with the team because college golf is such a team game. If we can play like we did in the Arizona tournament, when we beat some very good teams like defending NCAA champion Texas A&M and Florida, a No. 2 seed, we have a great chance to advance out of the regional. This is a very good golf course. We've played it in the past. It's a tough course and like all tough courses, if you are playing well you can handle it. When you are not playing well, a tough course will really separate the field. Washington is an excellent team and playing on their home course so you really have to almost give them a slot, but four others are up for grabs. If we play like we are capable I have no doubt we will be right there fighting for one of those spots. If we play poorly, other teams will beat us. The guys are going to be exited and we look forward to this opportunity."
This year marks the first NCAA Regional appearance for Becher who earned first-team all-WAC honors this season. The Reno, Nev., native is the only golfer from the WAC to earn an individual bid.
Becher led the team with a 71.70 stroke average and had six top 20 finishes for the year. Last week at the WAC Championship, Becher tied for seventh place and carded a two-under 214 (69-72-73).
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA finals played at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn., June 1-6, 2010.