The NCAA announced May 9 that the New Mexico State men's golf team will be the No. 9 seed and San Jose State will be the No. 12 seed in the NCAA Regional tournament at the Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo., May 19-21.
"I think Colorado is a great place for us to be going for regional," New Mexico State head coach Scott Lieberwirth said. "We played at this course earlier in the year and also playing at altitude gives us a small advantage. I feel this a is a good draw for us and having the experience we have I think its sets up well. We still have to go in and play solid golf. I know we are capable of that and if we do we could be on our way to the NCAA Championship tournament."
This is the fourth straight trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament for the Aggies. NM State won its fifth WAC Championship last week, earning a spot at the regional tournament.
The Aggies will send senior Tim Madigan, junior Gaston De La Torre, junior Joon Lee, junior Zachery Fullerton and sophomore Justin Shin to the regional tournament. Madigan, De La Torre and Shin all competed in the 2010 regional tournament.
For the first time since 1997, San Jose State will be one of the teams participating in the NCAA Men's Golf Regional Championships.
The Spartans finished in second place at the 2011 WAC Championship.
"Great news. This was the opportunity that a great number of people put a great deal of work into. We've got a group of young men that are looking forward to taking advantage of the opportunity afforded them by the NCAA," said San Jose State head coach John Kennaday.
"It's awesome. From three years ago, all the hard work, it's good to see that it's paying off. We've been through a lot and things are coming together for us," says junior Jay Myers, a second-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection. During the regular season, Myers' 72.97 stroke average for 36 rounds included 14 of par or better.
Joining the two WAC schools will be the following teams ranked in order:
Oklahoma State, Georgia, Auburn, Arizona State, Clemson, Chattanooga, TCU, North Florida, Northwestern, Colorado State, and future WAC member Denver.
Three individuals from other WAC schools will also be competing in the regionals. Joining New Mexico State and San Jose State in the Colorado Region is Idaho's
Jarred Bossio
while Nevada's
Scott Smith
and Fresno State's Bhavik Patel will play in the San Diego Region.