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 Western Carolina sophomore Matt Cook, the SoCon Player of the Year for 2005-06, was one of six golfers to receive an individual, at-large selection to the NCAA East Regional Men's Golf Championships. |
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May 8, 2006
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina sophomore Matt Cook was one of six golfers to receive an individual, at-large selection to the NCAA East Regional Men's Golf Championships, hosted by Central Florida and played May 18-20 at Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. Cook, who was seeded third among the East Region individuals, is Western's first participant in the NCAA Men's Golf Regional.
To advance to the NCAA Championships (played May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club in Sunriver, Ore.), Cook will need to be one of the top two individuals not on one of the top 10 teams at the conclusion of the East Regional. In addition to practicing this week, Cook and WCU head coach Gorham Bradley plan to leave next Tuesday (May 16) for Florida and play a practice round Wednesday before starting play at the NCAA East Region.
"Matt's at large selection to the NCAA East Regional puts him one step closer to reaching his own personal goal of representing WCU in the NCAA national championship," Bradley said. "I am excited for Matt and look forward to seeing him prove that he is one of the best players in college golf."
Cook was named the 2005-06 Southern Conference Men's Golf Player of the Year and was the league's individual champion as well. In being named SoCon Golfer of the Year, Cook, who placed among the top five in all five WCU spring events, led the league in stroke average and shattered the WCU single-season scoring record, averaging 71.52 strokes per round. In 10 events, he ranked among the individual top 10 eight times, including seven top five finishes. Cook was a two-time SoCon Men's Golfer of the Month this past season, SoCon Men's Golfer of the Week on two occasions, first team All-SoCon and named to the SoCon All-Tournament team.
With his season stroke average, Cook ranked 29th in the nation (all golfers, all divisions and affiliations) in the latest Golfstat Cup Standings. (For a complete listing, click: Golfstat National Player Rankings.)
In addition to winning the 2006 SoCon Championship, Cook won two other events and had two runner-up finishes this season, posting a record of 655-40-8 and ranking 107th in the nation according to the most recent Golfweek rankings, which accounts for strength of schedule along with scoring average and record. (For a complete listing, click Golfweek National Player Rankings.)
The field, including defending national champion Georgia, for the NCAA East Regional Championships are as follows: (For the complete field, visit NCAA Regional Championships Field.)
EAST REGIONAL- May 18-20 Lake Nona Golf-Orlando, Florida Hosted by the University of Central Florida and the Central Florida Sports CommissionTeams 1. Georgia (Southeastern) 2. UCLA (Pacific-10) 3. UNLV 4. Georgia State (Colonial) 5. North Carolina 6. Southern California 7. Texas Tech 8. Wake Forest 9. Charlotte (Atlantic 10) 10. Coastal Carolina (Big South) 11. Auburn 12. Tennessee 13. South Carolina 14. Florida State 15. Indiana 16. Notre Dame (Big East) 17. Georgia Southern (Southern) 18. Maryland 19. Jacksonville (Atlantic Sun) 20. Western Illinois (Mid-Continent) 21. Wichita State (Missouri Valley) 22. Rhode Island 23. George Washington 24. Richmond 25. Liberty 26. Army 27. Binghamton
Individuals: 1. Luke List, Vanderbilt 2. Daniel Willett, Jacksonville State 3. Matt Cook, Western Carolina 4. Garrett Osborne, Alabama-Birmingham 5. Shawn Hall, Charleston Southern 6. Scott Stallings, Tennessee Tech
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