COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The No. 20 Texas A&M men’s golf team was selected as the No. 4 seed at the NCAA Regional in Tempe, Arizona, the selection committee announced late Monday.
The Aggies will be making their school-record 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 40th NCAA appearance overall. Play is scheduled for May 16-18 at the ASU Karsten Golf Course.
“We have the benefit of having been to this course several times,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. “I think we, as a team, have a pretty good idea of how to play this course and going out to Tempe is always a good time and fun for the team.”
Pac-12 Champion, UCLA is the top seed in the 14-team regional field, followed by Duke, Georgia, A&M and Clemson rounding out the top-five seeds. Vanderbilt, UCF, North Carolina, host-Arizona State, Kennesaw State, Arizona, Austin Peay State, New Mexico State and Lehigh round out the field in Tempe.
In addition to the 14 teams, five individuals will take to the links in Arizona looking to advance to the NCAA Championships. The five are Glen Scher of UC Santa Barbara, Rufie Fessley of Fresno State, Cody Blick of San Jose State. Kyle Westmoreland of Air Force and Tyler Torano of Loyala Marymount.
The tournament will consist of 54 holes of stroke play on the par-70, 6,288-yard layout, with 18 holes each day. The top five teams in the regional advance to nationals, scheduled for May 28-June 2 at Capital City Club in Atlanta, Ga.
ASU Karsten Golf Course opened September 15, 1989. The largest single contributor to the project was Karsten Solheim, founder of PING golf equipment. Over the last 20-plus years, more than 1 million rounds have been played on the Pete Dye designed course. The golf course was built by the Sun Angel Foundation, is owned by Arizona State University and is managed by Lyon Golf.
“I think this is a very tough region we have here,” Higgins added. “With UCLA and Duke each winning their respective conference tournament title alongside SEC competitors Georgia and Vanderbilt. In addition to those solid teams, Arizona State will be playing on their home course looking to claim one of the qualifying spots for the NCAA Championship in Georgia.”
Texas A&M enters the postseason ranked No. 20 in the most recent Golf World/Nike Golf Division I College Coaches’ Poll after finishing fourth most recent action, which came at the SEC Championship in Sea Island, Ga., April 19-21.
Five other sites will host regionals next weekend, including Baton Rouge, La. (LSU University Club); Tallahassee, Fla. (Golden Eagle Country Club); Columbus, Ohio (The Scarlet Course); Fayetteville, Ark. (The Blessings Golf Club and Pullman, Wash. (Palouse Ridge Golf Club).
A&M is one of 13 SEC schools to make the field, joining Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
TEXAS A&M NCAA REGIONAL HISTROY
Year: Site / Finish
2013: Tempe, Ariz./???
2012: Bowling Green, Ky. / 2nd
*2011: Tucson, Ariz. / 2nd
*2010: Bryan, Texas / 2nd
*2009: Daly City, Calif. / 3rd
*2008: Columbus, Ohio / 7th
2007: Sugar Grove, Ill. / T-10th
*2006: Cleveland, Ohio / 3rd
*2005: South Bend, Ind. / 3rd
*2004: West Lafayette, Ind. / 4th
2003: Manhattan, Kan. / 23rd
2001: Stillwater, Okla. / 13th
2000: Victoria, Texas / 13th
1998: San Antonio, Texas / 11th
*1997: Norman, Okla. / 3rd
*1996: Ann Arbor, Mich. / 1st
1995: Montgomery, Texas / 17th
1994: Okla. City, Okla. / 12th
1993: Columbus, Ohio / 11th
1992: McKinney, Texas / 17th
1990: Columbus, Ohio / 18th
1989: McKinney, Texas / 17th
* advanced to NCAA Championship
NOTE: A&M advanced to the NCAA Championship 18 times prior to the advent of regionals … the Aggies will be gunning for their 29th NCAA Championship berth next weekend.