Fresno State Athletics
Dogs Head to NCAA Championships
5/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 10, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. - After a solid season in which the Bulldogs posted six Top 5 tournament finishes, the Fresno State men's golf team is headed back to the 2010 NCAA tournament.
The Bulldogs will be the No. 10 seed at the Bremerton (Wash.) Regional played May 20-22 at the Gold Mountain Golf Club (par 72, 7,104 yards). No. 1 seed Washington is the host school. The course hosted the 2008 NCAA Western Regional and the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
The Dogs will compete against 12 other schools at the site, including four that won conference championship tournaments to earn the automatic berth:
Seed/School (Conference Championship)
1. Washington (Pacific-10 Conference)
2. Southern California
3. Illinois (Big Ten Conference)
4. Oregon State
5. San Diego
6. Colorado State (Mountain West Conference)
7. Middle Tennessee
8. SMU
9. New Mexico
10. Fresno State
11. Eastern Michigan
12. VCU
13. Loyola (Maryland) (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
There are five other regional sites (Alpharetta, Ga., Notre Dame, Ind., San Diego, College Station, Texas, and New Haven, Conn.). The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA finals played at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn., June 1-6, 2010.
Despite a disappointing sixth place finish at the WAC Championships last week, head coach Mike Watney will take his team to the NCAA tournament for the 26th time in his 32 years as the Bulldog's coach. Watney was named the 2010 WAC Coach of the Year after leading his team to a WAC-best stroke average of 288.32 and coached first-team All-WAC player Bhavik Patel, who competed in the 2009 NCAA championship tournament as individual.
Highlighting the season were back-to-back third place finishes at the Arizona Intercollegiate and the University of San Diego Invitational, both against tough fields.
"I'm very exciting and it's good to quality for NCAAs," said Watney. "I love doing it with the team because college golf is such a team game. If we can play like we did in the Arizona tournament, when we beat some very good teams like defending NCAA champion Texas A&M and Florida, a No. 2 seed, we have a great chance to advance out of the regional. This is a very good golf course. We've played it in the past. It's a tough course and like all tough courses, if you are playing well you can handle it. When you are not playing well, a tough course will really separate the field. Washington is an excellent team and playing on their home course so you really have to almost give them a slot, but four others are up for grabs. If we play like we are capable I have no doubt we will be right there fighting for one of those spots. If we play poorly, other teams will beat us. The guys are going to be exited and we look forward to this opportunity."
The Dogs will play with Eastern Michigan and Virginia Commonwealth in the first round beginning at 9:10 a.m. PT on May 20. All regional sites will play 54-hole tournaments, 18 holes per day.
"We Are Your Team!" The Bulldog men's golf team will play in the NCAA Regional Tournament in Bremerton, Wash., May 20-22, 2010.
Players Mentioned
