Men's Golf National Championship Pairings Announced
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the first and second round pairings for the 2012 NAIA Men's Golf National Championships. The 61st annual event will take place at Creekside Golf Club in Salem, Ore., May 22 - 25.
The 159-player field is made up of 20 automatic qualifying schools who won their conference/independent/unaffiliated group tournaments, eight team at-large selections based on the final NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Top 25 Poll, Corban (Ore.) (host berth) and 14 individual qualifiers.
Three Sun Conference teams, Webber International, Johnson & Wales and USC-Beaufort will be represented at the tournament. Two individual qualifiers, Omar Tejeira of St. Thomas and Brett McCurdy of Northwood will also compete at the National Championship tournament.
Webber International, who earned a birth into the field by winning the Sun Conference tournament, will tee off the first round at 1:20 p.m. on Hole No. 10. The Warriors will then tee off round two at 7:30 a.m. on Hole No. 10.
Johnson & Wales, who earned the No. 5 at-large bid, will start round one on Hole No. 1 on May 22 at 7 a.m. The Wildcats will then tee off round two at 1:40 p.m. on Hole No. 10.
USC-Beaufort earned the No. 7 at-large bid into the tournament. The Sandsharks will begin round one at 8:20 a.m. on Hole No. 10 followed by the second round on May 23 at 12:40 on Hole No. 1.
Tejeira, who was a conference medalist, will start round one on Hole No. 10 at 2:10 p.m. and will play round two at 7:20 a.m. McCurdy, who earned an at-large bid into the 159-player field will tee off at 9:10 a.m. on May 22 and 12:20 p.m. on May 23.
Nine teams that placed in the top 10 at last year’s National Championships return to the field, including defending national titlist and second-ranked Oklahoma Christian. The Eagles lost 2011 National Championships individual medalist Oscar Stark to graduation, but return three golfers who participated in last year’s event. 2011 runner-up British Columbia is back after receiving an at-large bid, while No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City is poised to improve upon last year’s 10th-place finish. The Stars ride into Salem after besting Oklahoma Christian in the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships.
The 14 individual qualifiers includes nine automatic selections and five at-large choices. Each of the automatic selections garnered a spot in the National Championships by winning either his respective conference tournament or regular-season individual medal. The five at-large participants were chosen by the tournament committee.