Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
NCAA Regional Championship
2010 NCAA Men’s Golf Regional Championship
5/17/2010 11:12:34 AM | Men's Golf
Eagles awarded the 11th seed for the tournament at the Gold Mountain Golf Club
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's golf team is headed to the “Olympic” course at Gold Mountain Golf Club for its fourth NCAA team appearance. The Eagles earned the 11th seed in the NCAA Regional which will take place May 20-22. The 54-hole event is hosted by the University of Washington on a par 72, 7,104-yard venue in Bremerton, Wash.
The selection is the fourth NCAA berth in program history and the first as an at-large, as EMU also made NCAA Regional appearances in 1947, 2007 and 2008.
The Green and White's spot among the nation's top 81 teams came during the Men's Golf Selection Committee's Conference Call. The Eagles will be in a field that includes No. 4 ranked Washington, No. 10 ranked USC, No. 11 ranked Illinois and 25th ranked Oregon State.
There will be a total of six regional sites playing Thursday through Saturday, May 20-22, with 18 holes each day of the 54-hole event. There will be three regional sites with 13 teams and 10 individuals and three regional sites with 14 teams and five individuals. The top five teams and low individual not on a qualifying team from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championship, held Wednesday through Sunday, June 1-6, at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The regional teams in order of seeding include No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Southern California, No. 3 Illinois, No. 4 Oregon State and No. 5 San Diego. Colorado State, Middle Tennessee, SMU, New Mexico and Fresno State completed the top 10 slots. EMU, VCU and Loyola (Md.) rounded out the field.
The 10 individuals include Espen Kofstad (Denver), Austin Graham (UC Davis), Brandon Crick (Nebraska), Gabe Maier (Wyoming), Rodolfo Cazaubon (North Texas), Kyle Peterman (Western Illinois), Ben Blundell (Oklahoma), Kevin Tucker (Washington State), Nathan Sutherland (Miami) and Carlos Ortiz (North Texas).
DID YOU KNOW?: Head Coach Bruce Cunningham is accustomed to the NCAA experience, as the 15th-year mentor has either placed a team or an individual in the last six NCAA Tournaments, dating back to the 2005 campaign. Just last season Christopher Ross earned an at-large bid to the NCAA South Central Regional Championships in Stillwater, Okla. In 2008, the Eagles placed 14th at the NCAA Central Regional after a 15th-place showing at the 2007 NCAA East Regional, which was EMU's first team appearance in more than 60 years. Additionally, former EMU great Korey Mahoney qualified as an individual in both the 2005 and 2006 championships.
Prior to the current streak of NCAA appearances, Bob McNiff qualified for the championships in 1985 and Marc Dingman made back-to-back appearances in 1981 and 1982. Eastern Michigan made its first NCAA Championship appearance in 1947, when the then-Hurons finished 37th.
MEN'S GOLF RANKED 67TH BY GOLFSTAT: The latest Golfstat rankings show the Eastern Michigan University men's golf team ranked 67th nationally according to its publications web site.
The Eagles are the second highest ranked team from the Mid-American Conference, trailing only Kent State University at 52nd place. The University of Toledo is ranked 122nd, Miami University follows in 123rd and the University of Akron comes in 131st. Ball State University (147th), Bowling Green State University (165th), Ohio (174th) and Northern Illinois University (185th) round of the MAC's member rankings.
MEN'S GOLF RANKED 64TH BY GOLFWEEK/SAGARIN POLL: The latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings show Eastern Michigan ranked 64th nationally according to its publications website. EMU is currently 38-41 versus top 100 schools and 99-50 overall.
