Greensboro, NC (05/02/02) -- Guilford College's men's golf team received its 10th bid in 11 years 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 13-16 at the Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln, NE.

The Quakers, ranked first in the April 30 Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head Standings and second in the May 2 Precept Division III Coaches' Poll, are seeded fourth in the field behind fellow south region competitors Greensboro, Oglethorpe and Savannah A&D. Guilford placed second in the 2001 NCAA Tournament by one shot to Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which also received a bid to this year's championship.

Guilford won its unprecedented third Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Golf Championship April 23 and has finished third or better in 10 of 12 tournaments this season. The Quakers recorded second-place finishes this spring at the Pine Needles/Pfeiffer Invitational and The Treasure Coast Classic against predominantly upper-division fields. Guilford took third among 12 teams at the Wilson/Gordin Collegiate Classic last October. All 12 Gordin competitors received bids to the 2002 NCAA Division III Championship.

The Quakers feature three returning All-Americans, including senior Savio Nazareth (Orlando, FL/Phillips (Brevard J.C)) (right), who is ranked 118th among all college golfers (2nd in Division III) according to the May 1 Golfstat Cup ratings. Nazareth averages 72.57 strokes in 23 rounds this year, which is lower than his school-record 72.80 average of a year ago. He earned third-team All-America honors last season and earned his second straight ODAC Golfer of the Year Award April 23. Sophomore Dave Patterson (Fort Pierce, FL/Fort Pierce Central), who won the ODAC Tournament last month, has Guilford's lowest scores in the team's last two tournaments and received second-team All-America honors with a 10th-place showing at last year's NCAA Championship. Senior Andrew Biggadike (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) has Guilford's third-lowest stroke average this season and took third at last year's tournament.

Head coach Jack Jensen's (left) club is the 21st team to reach the national tournament in his 26 years as Guilford's golf coach. He led the Quakers to 11 NAIA National Tournament berths and won the 1989 NAIA title.