Men's Golf Release - NCAA Bid - Guilford College
GUILFORD'S GOLF TEAM EARNS 12TH NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT BID
Greensboro, NC (04/29/04) -- Guilford College's men's golf team received its 12th bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships, the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Committee announced Thursday. Guilford is one of 23 teams in the 120-player field, which plays for the national championship May 10-13 at the PGA of Southern California Golf Club in Beaumont, CA.
The Quakers, ranked fourth in the April 27 Golfstat Head-to-Head Standings and in the April 15 Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA)/Precept Division III Coaches' Poll, were one of six teams selected from the South Region. Guilford finished 17th in last year's NCAA Tournament and won the 2002 NCAA title.
The Quakers won their unprecedented fifth straight Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Golf Championship April 20 and finished eighth or higher in 10 of 11 tournaments this season. Guilford also won the 22-team Uwharrie Point/Johnny Palmer Invitational in September and had runner-up finishes at the Greensboro Invitational and the Pfeiffer/North Shore Invitational.
The Quakers feature the 2004 ODAC Golfer of the Year in freshman Colin Clark (Durham, NC/Chapel Hill), who averages a league-low 74.77 strokes in 22 rounds this year. Other top players include sophomores Brant Stovall (Lawsonville, NC/South Stokes), Chris Lowman (Siler City, NC/Jordan-Matthews) and Daniel Day (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire), all of whom joined Clark as First Team All-ODAC selections.
Head coach Jack Jensen's Quakers have advanced to the national tournament 23 times in Jensen's 28 years at the helm. In addition to 12 NCAA Division III Tournament berths, he led Guilford to 11 appearances in the NAIA National Tournament and won the 1989 NAIA title.