North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Golf Travels to NCAA West Regional
5/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 17, 2006
Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State men's golf team will look to qualify for the NCAA Championships this weekend, as the Pack heads to Tucson, Arizona, to compete in the 2006 NCAA West Regional Championships at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course. The top-10 teams this weekend, along with the top two individuals not on those squads, will advance to the 109th NCAA Championships held May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon.
The Wolfpack enters this weekends competition as the ninth seed, and is the only ACC school to be placed in the West Regional.
This weekends course in a Par 72 with a 7,200-yard layout. The teams will play a total of 54 rounds over the weekend, with a round of 18 holes each day. The filed consists of 27 seeded teams, along with six individuals, to make the tournament a 141-man field.
NC State will be sending: senior Stephen Lewton, juniors Garry Hill and Jerry Richardson, and freshmen Darren Blair and Nathan Spoon as its group of five.
All-ACC selection Lewton leads the Wolfpack this season with a stroke average of 71.73. He has two wins under his belt, at the Seminole Intercollegiate and in his last tournament two weeks ago, the Cavalier Classic.
The Wolfpack is recently coming off of a fourth place finish at the ACC Championships back on April 23. NC State placed three golfers in the top-20, and as a team finished at 11-under par. Freshman Nathan Spoon had NC State's top finish, as he was sixth at 6-under par.
The NC State men's golf program will be making its 15th trip to the NCAA Regionals, and the eight in the last nine years, all under the direction of coach Richard Sykes. The Pack has been successful its last four trips to the NCAA Regionals, all top-10 finishes. In 2004 NC State tied for 10th, and finished third in 2003, fifth in 2002 and second in 2001.
The Wolfpack will tee off in the first round on Thursday at 12:17 p.m. pacific (3:17 p.m. eastern) and at 7:47 a.m. pacific (10:47 a.m. eastern) on Friday. The times and pairings for Saturday's final round will be set after completion of the first two rounds.
Live tournament scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com. Tournament results and recaps can be found at www.GoPack.com and www.ncaasports.com.
