May 9, 2011
Click here for ASU men's golf statistics
Colorado's National Golf Club to Host NCAA Regional May 19-21
TEMPE- The No. 24 Arizona State University men's golf team will travel to Erie, Colo., to participate in NCAA Regional play May 19-21 at the Colorado National Golf Club.
The six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 19-21. Thirteen teams and ten individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the 2011 NCAA Division 1 Men's Golf Championship (114th annual), hosted by Oklahoma State, May 31- June 5 at Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Okla.
Four seniors and one junior will represent the Sun Devils in the 13-team regional. Senior Jesper Kennegard won the 2009 West Regional as a sophomore, carding a 12-under par 204 (66-68-70), and has played in the regional tournament the previous three years. He tied for 35th in the event his freshman season and tied for 34th as a junior. His best tournament of this season came at the Ameri Ari Invitational, where he tied for sixth at 10-under par 206 (67-71-68).
Senior Scott Pinckney tied for 10th in the 2010 Southeast Regional with a 1-over par 211 (69-71-71) and helped ASU win the 2009 West Regional by finishing in a tie for 31st as a sophomore. Pinckney strung together four consecutive top-10 appearances to start the 2011 spring season, including a second-place finish at the USC Collegiate Invitational.
Senior James Byrne last competed in the NCAA Regionals as a freshman in the 2007-08 season and ended in a tie for 23rd at 3-over par 219 (73-70-76). He is participating in his eighth tournament of the season, which ties a career high, and has one top-10 finish, tying for ninth at ASU's Thunderbird Invitational with at 1-under par 212 (72-71-69).
Junior Philip Francis, who placed third at the 2009 Central Regional with an even par 214 (71-69-74) while with the UCLA Bruins, also tied for 46th at the 2008 West Regional. He has three top-10 finishes this season, including sixth at the Topy Cup and seventh at The Battle at the Beach.
This is the first NCAA Regional for senior Oscar Zetterwall, who transferred to ASU from the University of New Orleans. He is coming off his best tournament of the season after tying for 20th at the Pac-10 Championship.
Colorado National Golf Club - Erie, Colorado
Hosted by University of Colorado-Boulder
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference champion)
2. Georgia
3. Auburn
4. Arizona State
5. Clemson
6. Chattanooga
7. TCU
8. North Florida
9. New Mexico State (Western Athletic Conference champion)
10. Northwestern
11. Colorado State
12. San Jose State
13. Denver (Sun Belt Conference champion)
2011 NCAA Men's Golf Regional Sites (May 19-21)
Colorado National Golf Club - Erie, Colorado (Colorado-Boulder)
The Farms Golf Club - San Diego, California (UCSD)
Wolf Run Golf Course - Zionsville, Indiana (Indiana)
The Pete Dye River Course - Radford, Virginia (Virginia Tech)
Golden Ocala Golf Club - Ocala, Florida (Florida)
Omni Tucson National Resort - Tucson, Arizona (Arizona)
UPDATED REGIONAL STREAK
Counting its appearance in the 23 years a NCAA Regional has been staged (1989-2011), ASU has made 28 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the sixth-longest active streak in the nation. ASU has advanced to the NCAA Championship (finals) 26 of the past 27 seasons (1984-2010), missing only in 2002, and in 45 of the past 47 seasons (1964-2010), missing prior to 2002 in 1983.
LONGEST ACTIVE NCAA POSTSEASON STREAKS
Oklahoma State, 1947-2011, 65
USC, 1973-2011, 39
Texas, 1978-2011, 34
Clemson, 1982-11, 30
Arizona State, 1984-11, 28
Georgia Tech, 1985-11, 27
*Note: List includes NCAA Championship prior to 1989 and reaching at least NCAA Regionals from 1989-present.
ASU IN THE REGIONALS
With the victories by both the team and Jesper Kennegard at the 2009 West Regional, ASU has won or tied for the title in a NCAA Regional six times. ASU tied with Arizona in 1991 and tied with New Mexico in 1998. It won the title outright in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2009. Sun Devil Jesper Kennegard in 2009. Matt Jones shared medalist honors in 2001.
TRYING TO REACH CHAMPIONSHIPS THROUGH REGIONALS: ASU has made the NCAA Championship in the past eight seasons and in 17 of 18 seasons under Randy Lein, but it sure isn't getting easier with the 30-team, three-round regional format. Using Golfweek's rankings through the regionals last year, five top 30 teams did not go to the NCAA Championships in Chattanooga, a list that included No. 13 Georgia, No. 18 South Carolina, No. 25 San Diego State, No. 28 Colorado State and No. 30 Alabama. In 2009, nine top-30 teams did not advance to the NCAA Championships after regional action.
IT ISN'T EASY, PART TWO: Arizona State is one of just a dozen teams to play in the past three NCAA Championships. UCLA, Stanford, USC, Oklahoma State, Washington, Florida, Texas A&M, Illinois, Texas, Virginia and Oregon are the others.
START IT OVER: Back in 2002, Randy Lein saw ASU's 18-year NCAA championship consecutive streak snapped in a season that had injuries and bad luck. ASU is back in the saddle with eight straight, and to show you how competitive the NCAA men's golf championships is, that streak already is tied for the third-best active streak, as Georgia had a 12-year streak snapped this year and Wake Forest had a five-year run ended. Only four teams have made the NCAAs in each of the past eight seasons.
CURRENT CONSECUTIVE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES
Oklahoma State, 1947-2010, 64
Florida, 2001-2010, 10
Arizona State, 2003-2010, 8
UCLA, 2003-2010, 8
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES: ASU has made 17 NCAA Championship appearances in Randy Lein's 18 years (1993-2010), tied for the second-best mark in the nation with Florida.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (1993-2010)
Oklahoma State-18
Arizona State and Florida-17
Arizona-16
Clemson and Georgia Tech-15
Texas and Wake Forest-14
North Carolina and UNLV-13
Auburn, Georgia and New Mexico-12