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USC, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State among top-ranked men's programs advancing to the NCAA Championship
Survive and advance is the name of the game at the NCAA Men’s Regionals, where the top five teams at each of the six sites qualify for next week’s NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms outside Chicago. And for the most part, college golf’s best programs did just that. Only seven of the top 25 teams according to Golfstat’s latest computer rankings saw their seasons end early (No. 5 Florida, No. 10 Wake Forest, No. 11 Texas Tech, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 21 Georgia Tech, No. 23 Georgia and No. 25 Missouri). Here’s a breakdown from each of the six Regionals.
Austin Regional
With a 14-under 270 in the final round—thanks to 67s from Zachery Olsen, Viktor Hovland and Zach Bauchou—Oklahoma State past host Texas to win its 12th NCAA Regional title.
Iowa State’s Nick Voke took the individual title after shooting a course-record 61 at the University of Texas G.C., beating Longhorn Doug Ghim by five strokes.
With N.C. State’s seventh-place finish, coach Richard Sykes ended his illustrious career after 46 seasons with the Wolfpack. During his tenure, the school won 53 team events and had 34 All-Americans.
Team qualifiers
1, Oklahoma State, -13
2, Texas, -11
3, Iowa State, -7
4, Mississippi, +2
5, Arizona State, +7
Just missed:
6, Wake Forest, +11
Individual qualifier
Will Zalatoris, Waker Forest
Baton Rogue Regional
Host LSU shot the best score of the week in the opening round at The University Club (276) en route to winning the title by eight strokes over Duke with a two-over 866. The 2015 NCAA champs had three players finish inside the top 10: medalist Sam Burns (-1), Luis Gagne (T-3) and Eric Richard (T-7).
Jacksonville, ranked 42nd in the country, made the biggest move in the final round, shooting a one-over 289 to tie Northwestern for fifth place, then knocking out the Wildcats in a playoff, keeping the Big Ten from playing near its home with NCAAs being held outside Chicago.
Also advancing out of the Regional is defending national champion Oregon.
Team qualifiers
1, LSU, +2
2, Duke, +10
3, Oregon, +15
4, Virginia, +17
5, Jacksonville, +19
Just missed:
6, Northwestern, +19
Individual qualifier
Mason Overstreet, Arkansas
West Lafayette Regional
UNLV claimed the team title at the Kampen Course at Purdue, shooting a eight-over 872 to beat Auburn by three strokes. But the final round in Indiana will be remembered for one top-ranked school holding its own while another faded. Illinois, ranked eighth in the country, shot the best round of the day with a six-over 294, jumping the Illini from sixth to third and qualify for their 10th straight NCAA tournament
“We've qualified for the national championship every different way you can imagine for the last 10 years,” Illinois men’s coach Mike Small said. “This was unique because we were treading water for a day-and-a-half and struggling. I feel that the golf course helped us because it's so difficult coming in. We handled those last five holes with some strength today and finished them off with no doubles. It feels great that we persevered through a sluggish day-and-a-half.”
Conversely, fifth-ranked Florida, the No. 1 seed in the Regional, stumbled on Wednesday, shooting a closing 24-over 312 to fall from third to eighth place and fail to advance to nationals.
Illinois’ Nick Hardy and New Mexico’s Andrej Bevins shared individual honors at three-under 213.
Team qualifiers
1, UNLV, +8
2, Auburn, +11
3, Illinois, +14
4, New Mexico, +16
5, Purdue, +18
Just missed:
T-6, Augusta, +21
T-6, St. Mary’s (Calif.), +21
Individual qualifier
Trent Wallace, Illinois State
College Grove Regional
A 13-over 301 in the final round at The Grove Club cost second-ranked Vanderbilt its fourth win of the season, with UCF piping the team title by two strokes, but the top-seeded Commodores safely moved on to NCAAs.
Lipscomb’s Dawson Armstrong won medalist honors with an eight-under 208, helping push his school to a surprise fifth-place showing and its first NCAA Championship appearance.
Team qualifiers
1, UCF, -1
T-2, Vanderbilt, +1
T-2, Kennesaw State, +1
T-2, Clemson, +1
5, Lipscomb, +5
Just missed:
T-6, Troy, +13
T-6, Middle Tennessee State, +13
Individual qualifier
Cam Norman, Troy
Stanford Regional
Ranked fourth in the country by Golfstat, Stanford didn’t necessarily need a home-course advantage to qualify for nationals, but it didn’t hurt. Maverick McNealy (third), Franklin Huang (T-4) and Brandon Wu (T-4) all posted top-five finishes for the Cardinal, which earned a share of the title at Stanford Golf Club.
Joining them at the top of the leader board was Baylor. The Bears, No. 9 in the country, were led by Cooper Dossey’s nine-under 201 showing, which left him second, three strokes back of Oklahoma’s Brad Dalke for the individual title.
A three-under 277 final round pushed North Carolina inside the top five, knocking out ACC rival Georgia Tech, which shot a four-over 284 to cost them the final spot at Rich Harvest Farms.
Team qualifiers
T-1, Stanford, -17
T-1, Baylor, -17
3, Pepperdine, -5
4, Oklahoma, -3
5, North Carolina, +3
6, Georgia Tech, +4
Individual qualifier
Travis Trace, North Florida
Washington Regional
Top-ranked USC won its fifth title of the 2016-’17 season, beating Kent State by six strokes at Aldarra G.C. outside Seattle. It was the Trojans third Regional title in school history and marks the 11th straight year the program has reached nationals, which ties with Texas for the longest current streak. Sean Crocker, Justin Suh and Rico Hoey each posted top-five individual finishes for USC.
Penn State’s Cole Miller took the individual title, with a seven-under 206 total, three strokes better than Crocker, Suh and Kent State’s Ian Holt, and helped the Nittany Lions secure the fifth spot in the team competition.
Team qualifiers
1, USC, -3
2, Kent State, +3
T-3, Florida State, +10
T-3, Alabama, +10
5, Penn State, +11
Just missed:
6, Texas A&M, +15
Individual qualifier
Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M