Ospreys Set to Tee Off at NCAA Golf Regional
5/18/2011 1:45:36 PM | Men's Golf
ERIE, Colo. – The University of North Florida golf team begins play Thursday as the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Colorado (South Central) Regional being held at the Colorado National Golf Club.
The three-day, 54-hole Colorado Regional will be contested over a par 72, 7,753-yard layout for the Colorado National course. UNF is paired with No. 7 seed TCU and No. 9 seed New Mexico State in round one with tee times beginning at 8:50 a.m. (MT) from Hole No. 1.
North Florida has made six NCAA regional appearances at the Division I level including two straight and three in the last four seasons. The Ospreys advanced to the NCAA Championship last season earning a final 14th-place finish in the championship event.
UNF, ranked nationally by both Golfweek (45th) and Golfstat (48th), enters NCAA regional play following a runner-up finish at the 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference championship on Apr. 18-20. The Ospreys posted six Top Five finishes in 11 events this season.
The Osprey line-up will be led by the All-Atlantic Sun Conference first team duo of Kevin Aylwin and Kevin Phelan. Aylwin, a junior, led the team in stroke average this season while collecting six Top 10 finishes and 12 rounds under par. Phelan, a sophomore, posted four Top 10 showings with eight under-par scores and was also the medalist runner-up as the 2010 NCAA South Central Regional.
Seniors Chris Kennedy and Jacob Davidson along with junior Joe Byun will round out the line-up for UNF in regional play. Sophomore Joey Marino is listed as an alternate for the Ospreys due to a practice round injury suffered by Phelan which may keep him out of competition for regional play.
“We are excited and anxious to get started in NCAA Regional play,” said UNF head coach Scott Schroeder. “Colorado National is a nice course where we believe we have a chance to score well. The team has adjusted to the altitude really well, so that is not a concern. The weather has been a bit cold, but not as bad as it could be. Kevin Phelan is hurting which is a bit a concern because we are not sure if he's going to be able to play. Fortunately, the rest of the team has played really well so it will be fun to see how we can do.”
The Colorado (South Central) Regional features a very talented group of teams including No. 1 seeded and the nation's top-ranked team, Oklahoma State. No. 12/12 Georgia is the second seed followed by No. 3 seed Auburn (9/13), No. 4 seed Arizona State (31/24) and No. 5 seed Clemson (25/25).
Rounding out the field will be No. 6 seed Chattanooga (39/35), No. 7 TCU (40/40), North Florida, No. 9 New Mexico State (52/53), No. 10 Northwestern (56/57), No. 11 Colorado State (65/63), No. 12 San Jose State (70/70) and No. 13 Denver.
The UNF golf team began competing at the DI level in 1997. Prior to that, the Ospreys went to the NCAA Division II national championships for four consecutive seasons, finishing second twice. UNF won the NAIA National Championship in 1991 and 1993.
The top five teams out of each of six regionals plus the top individual player not on one of those top five schools advances to the national finals, May 31-June 5, in Stillwater, Okla. The other five regionals are being hosted by Virginia Tech, Florida, Indiana, Arizona and the University of San Diego.
Live results during all three rounds of the regional are available online at: www.golfstat.com
