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 Senior Matt Cook is making his third-straight trip to the NCAA East Regional after receiving consecutive at-large bids as an individual the past two seasons. (Photo by Mark Haskett) |
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May 13, 2008
CATAMOUNT TRACKS PODCAST PREVIEW OF MEN'S GOLF EAST REGIONAL
Cullowhee, N.C. - Gathered around a speaker phone in the Jordan-Phillips Field House, the Western Carolina men's golf team anxiously awaited its fate. After playing arguably the toughest schedule in school history, the Catamounts were rewarded with the school's first-ever, at-large bid to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship field.
Western Carolina, the No. 23 seed in the East Regional, opens its quest for the national championship with a practice round on Wednesday afternoon, starting on the 10th tee at 12:20 pm at the par 71, 6,961-yard Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Catamounts tee it up in the first round at 7:47 am on Thursday morning, paired with No. 22 Virginia and No. 24 Colorado State. WCU will take to the course on the back nine at 12:59 with the same pairings on Friday, with Saturday's final round tee times determined by team placement entering the final 18 holes.
The top 10 finishers from the regional move on to NCAA Championship which will be held may 28-31 at Purdue University's Birk Boilermaker Golf Complex on the Kampen Course. Top two individual finishers not on teams advancing move on as well.
"From the time we heard our named called back on May 5 on the selection teleconference, through preparing to head to Chattanooga, it has been an awesome experience," said WCU head coach and alum, Gorham Bradley. "I am excited for our players, and also for our University. Our players believe that they can compete against the best teams in the country, and now they have that opportunity."
He added, "This event is a tremendous opportunity for Western Carolina men's golf to compete at the national level. Those who have been involved with this program should take great pride in this accomplishment. But rest assured our current players, myself included, believe we can make it out of the regional and into the NCAA championships. It will take a total team effort from the practice rounds all the way through the final putt."
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Earlier this year, Western finished ahead of No. 24 Colorado State at the Callaway Golf Invitational in California, and also edged No. 11 Virginia Tech at the Furman Intercollegiate. In addition, the Catamounts were only four strokes in arrears of top-seed Georgia which won at the Mizuno Southbridge Intercollegiate.
WCU senior Matt Cook will be making his third-straight appearance in the NCAA post-season. The individual medalist at last month's SoCon men's golf championship, Cook earned two-consecutive, at-large bids each of the past two seasons. The Murphy, N.C., native posted a school-best, 20th-place finish at last year's East Regional with a three-round score of 223.
According to the latest Golfstat Cup rankings, Cook enters the regional ranked 78th in the nation and is the only Catamount to grace the top 250 golfers. The Murphy, N.C., native was fourth in the SoCon this season with a stroke average of 72.46, followed by junior Andres Cuenca in 12th. The two - which lead the school's career scoring average chart - have the lowest scoring average on the squad at 72.26 and 73.52, respectively, which rank third and sixth in the WCU record books for single-season averages.
Freshman Caleb Marsh is third on the team with a scoring average of 74.03 after posting three, top 10 finishes this season, with sophomore Ricky Stout averaging just over 75 per round (75.13) and junior transfer Dustin Furnari at 75.50 with one runner-up finish - to teammate, Andres Cuenca - at the WCU Intercollegiate back in November.
The Catamounts are one of six teams in the region to have played the course at Council Fire in the season-opening Scenic City Invitational back in mid-September, 2007. Western finished 15th at the event, but carded the 10th-best 54-hole score in school history at 879 (298-287-294).
Live scoring for the 54-hole event will be provided by GolfStat and can be accessed by visiting www.GolfStatResults.com. Complete results and recaps will be provided through www.CatamountSports.com.
2008 NCAA East Regional 1. Georgia Individuals: Keegan Bradley (St. John's); Jose Toledo (New Orleans); Johnny Caldwell (South Alabama); Michael McGrady (Troy); Jon Curran (Vanderbilt); Grant Leaver (Austin Peay)
Council Fire Golf Club - Chattanooga, Tenn.
May 15-17
2. Charlotte
3. South Carolina
4. Duke
5. Chattanooga
6. Auburn
7. East Tennessee State
8. Michigan State
9. Ole Miss
10. UAB
11. Virginia Tech
12. North Carolina State
13. Mississippi State
14. Georgia State
15. North Florida
16. UC-Irvine
17. Augusta State
18. SMU
19. Middle Tennessee
20. Coastal Carolina
21. Memphis
22. Virginia
23. Western Carolina
24. Colorado State
25. New Mexico State
26. Western Illinois
27. Jackson State
