Three C-USA Men's Golf Teams Receive NCAA Bids

Andy Doeden

For the first time in Conference USA history, three men’s golf teams have received bids to the NCAA Regionals. Conference USA Tournament champion TCU is the No. 1 seed in the Central Region, the first time that the league has produced the top seed in a region. UAB will be making its third consecutive NCAA appearance as the No. 11 seed in the East Regional. Houston earned its sixth straight NCAA bid, and is seeded 16th in the Central Region.

By qualifying three teams to the NCAAs, Conference USA betters the previous high of two, set three times in league history, including the last two years. UAB finished 12th last season, while Houston came in 20th.

TCU is the first school in Conference USA history to win the men’s and women’s golf championships in the same season. The Horned Frog men are led by BRAD GUETZ, who was the individual medallist at the C-USA Tournament after recording a tournament-record 11-under par score of 205. TCU has won back-to-back conference titles . Junior ADAM RUBINSON is a two-time all-conference selection, while senior ANDY DOEDEN has posted eight Top 20 finishes in 2002.

Junior SIMON ROBINSON, who earned both All-Conference and All-Tournament honors this season, leads Houston with a 73.1 scoring average, nearly a full stroke better than BRAD MCINTOSH, who has posted a 74.0 average.

Both Houston and TCU will be competing at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, Ark. Competition for the 27 regionalists will take place May 16-18.

UAB will be in action at Ansley Golf Clubs Settin’ Down Creek in Roswell, Ga. From May 16-18. The Blazers have made the NCAA Tournament field in four of the last five seasons and are appearing in the East Regional for the third straight time. Junior GRAEME McDOWELL, who is one of the top individual contenders to win the championship, leads the Blazers. He has been ranked No. 1 in both collegiate rankings and has posted five tournament wins this season. For the second consecutive season, McDowell was named C-USA Player of the Year and earned All-Conference USA Team honors. Earlier this month, he was named one of 10 finalists for the Ben Hogan Award, given to the top Collegiate Golfer of the Year.

In addition to the three teams that earned NCAA bids, one individual also earned an invitation. Southern Miss senior TIM YELVERTON earned the honor after finishing fifth in the 2002 Conference USA Championship at The Club at Hidden Creek in Navarre, Fla., where he shot rounds of 74-71-67--212. Those numbers earned him All-Tournament honors as well as All-Conference accolades for a second-straight year. He becomes only the second Golden Eagle selected to compete in the Regional Tournament in the last 15 years.

Each regional will consist of 54-holes and feature 27 teams and the top-six individuals not on those teams. From there, the Top 10 teams from each of three regionals advance to the NCAA Championship, May 29-June 1 at the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio.