For the second straight week in college golf, a team has sealed a bid to the NCCGA National Championship.
The University of Wisconsin is headed to Dancing Rabbit Golf Club on Nov. 15-16 representing the North Region after winning both regional tournaments over the past month.
This will be the fourth straight trip to the college golf Nationals for Wisconsin.
Congratulations to this week's NCCGA Team of the Week, National University, and Player of the Week, Michigan State's Josh Heinze.
North Region
More on the North from RC Bobby Puchner:
The Wisconsin Badgers emerged from the North Region once again and earned a bid to the NCCGA National Championship on November 15-16 at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club in Philadelphia, MS. The Badgers got strong performances this semester from juniors Tyler Piddington and Matt McIntosh as well as freshman CJ Fritcher. This will be the fourth consecutive trip to Nationals for the Badgers.
On the individual side, Wisconsin-Milwaukee sophomore George Schley fired rounds of 76-77 to take medalist honors. Schley, a former member of the University of Nebraska men's golf team, is looking forward to the possibility of competing at Nationals as an individual.
Pacific Region
RC Christian Aguinaldo provides a brief summary of the action in the Pacific:
The Pacific Region held their first Regional Tournament of the semester this past weekend at the San Ramon Golf Club in San Ramon, CA. Rival schools Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley, both sent teams to compete in what seemed to be the NCCGA version of “The Big Game.”
We are working to solve pace of play issues in college golf
Both teams fought hard to go low while trying to stay hydrated in the 90-degree heat. Pace of play was an issue however as teams averaged a 5.5 hour round each day. This was probably due to the fact that the course had out of bounds stakes on each hole forcing several players to walk back. Losing balls was unfortunately a common occurrence for each player on the course.
Overall, the tournament ran very smoothly. The volunteers and the course staff were very helpful in making sure the tournament continued to function. After all was said and done, Stanford came out on top led by John Rafael.
College golfers from Stanford won the first Regional Tournament in the Pacific.
Despite having a final round score of 75, Rafael was still affected by tough course conditions. “My game was good enough to win and I’m happy with that, but I know I can play better and do well when I’m more consistent. Even so, the tournament was a blast and it was a nice way to get out of campus and play some golf,” Rafael said. It was definitely a great experience for both teams and a great building block as the Pacific Region continues to move forward to the second Regional Tournament.
Midwest Region
Here is a recap of the college golf action in the Midwest RT No. 1 from RC Andrew Hartman:
Michigan State took a big first step on their journey to return to Nationals for the second consecutive season after an impressive performance at Buck’s Run this weekend.
The Spartans shot a two day total of 374-378 752 (+32) on a tough course that featured hazards on nearly every hole, requiring precision on every stroke. Josh Heinze led the Spartans at 69-68 137 (-7) in his first event with the team after playing two years on Eastern Michigan’s varsity squad. Heinze’s dominant score of 7-under par was enough to win the event by 14 strokes over teammate Payden Meyers and Dongmin Kim of Michigan. Overall, the Spartans ousted 2013 Fall National Champion Michigan by 20 strokes (772), and Central Michigan finished third (871).
Heinze was stellar this weekend and looks to continue his dominance in Regional Tournament No. 2.
Regional 2 will be contested October 18-19 at Eldorado Golf Club, where the Spartans will look to lock up an automatic nationals birth, while Michigan looks to make a comeback to extend their season.
Southwest Region
National University continued their dominance over the weekend, with a 41-stroke victory over UCLA. A total of five teams competed in the first Southwest Regional of the fall semester.
National was led by six players who carded 36-hole scores of 6-over par or better. Alejandro Escobedo led the way with rounds of 70-72 (+2).
Congratulations to NU for winning 1ST place of Southwest Fall Regional I!!! #ReadyGolf pic.twitter.com/iWITbckZLf
Pepperdine University’s Joshua Shou and the University of San Diego’s Jose Arguelles Badillo both finished at 1-under par. Shou prevailed in a playoff to take Medalist honors.
The second Regional Tournament in the region will take place on Oct. 25-26 at Menifee Lakes Country Club.
Gulf Region
LSU reigned supreme in the first Regional Tournament in the Gulf Region. LSU, the University of Louisiana-Monroe and LSU-Alexandria competed in the tournament.
LSU’s Cody Maxwell and Dylan Reynolds led the way with scores 3-under par and 1-under par, respectively.
Northwest Region
The University of Idaho began their #RoadToRabbit over the weekend, claiming a seven-stroke victory over Central Washington and two other schools in the Northwest.
Consecutive 76’s from CWU’s Brad Donahue earned him Medalist honors by two strokes over Idaho’s Ben Halter.
College golf play resumes in the region on Oct. 25-26 at Avondale Golf Club.
***Dave Uhrmacher (@DaveUhrm) is the NCCGA Director of Communications.
