PULLMAN, Wash. - The NCAA Men's Golf Regional makes its return to Pullman May, 13-15, 2019 at Palouse Ridge Golf Club on Washington State's Campus at Pullman.
Washington State is one of six regional hosts, joined by Coastal Carolina (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), Georgia (Athens, Ga.), Louisville (Simpsonville, Ky.), Stanford (Stanford, Calif.) and Texas (Austin, Texas). This marks the second time WSU men's golf will host an NCAA Regional, as it hosted in 2013. The Cougars also hosted the men's golf Pac-12 Championships in 2015. Next season WSU will host a women's golf NCAA Regional.
"Having the opportunity to host an NCAA event here in Pullman is a big deal," said head coach
Dustin White. "Not only is it great recognition for our program and the university, but the community as a whole."
Two top-10 teams will compete in the Pullman Regional including the No. 1 seed for the regional, fifth-ranked Oklahoma and No. 8 Georgia Tech. Seventeenth-ranked South Carolina is the No. 3 seed, while No. 20 Texas A&M is the fourth seed. No. 5-seeded UCLA is the lone Pac-12 team in the field, while BYU (No. 6), Colorado State (No. 7), Florida (No. 8), Michigan State (No. 9) and Purdue (No. 10) make up the rest of the top-10 seeds. Automatic qualifiers by winning their league make up the 11-14 seeds with No. 11 Kent State (Mid-American Conference), No. 12 Northern Colorado (Big Sky Conference), No. 13 Wright State (Horizon League) and No. 14 Iona (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). Second-seeded Georgia Tech from the Atlantic Coast Conference is the only other league champion.
Five individuals whose teams did not make the championship will also participate in the regional. The 74th-ranked golfer in the nation, Thomas Hutchinson of UC Davis, is the top-ranked individual in the Pullman Regional. He's joined by UC Santa Barbara's Zach Smith (ranked 124th), Colorado's Daniel O'Loughlin (ranked 126th), San Francisco's Tim Widing (ranked 129th) and Grand Canyon's Jake Chanen. The field itself features three top-20 golfers in BYU's Peter Kuest (ninth) and Georgia Tech's Andy Ogletree (15th) and Luke Schniederjans (19th).
The 7,246-yard course will play at par 70. The Palouse Ridge Golf Club was designed by golf course architect, John F. Harbottle III. Mr. Harbottle died suddenly of a heart attack in May, 2012 at the age of 53. After opening in 2008, the success of the golf course is accredited by its selection to host the Pac-12 championships in 2012 (women) and 2015 (men). Golf Week listed Palouse Ridge at No. 3 for college courses, behind Yale and Williams College. The length, creativity and decision-making the course requires demands the best from the best. Palouse Ridge also was rated one of the best courses you can play by Golfweek Magazine from 2009-2015. Golf Digest and Golf Week both pegged it in the second slot in 2009 for the best new courses, and it's already designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.
"Our event staff and the crew at Palouse Ridge will put on a first class event and we will be able to showcase what we already know, that Pullman is a special place to be," said White. "People rally around college sports here and have proven to be fantastic supporters and fans."
Last time the NCAA Regional came to Pullman, California took first, shooting a course record 43 under-par and 20 strokes under the second place finisher, TCU. The Golden Bears set an NCAA record at 11 for tournament titles taken in a season, and captured their second-straight NCAA Regional title.
The top-five teams from the each regional and top individual whose team is not in the top-five will advance to the NCAA Championships, May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. to compete for the team and individual titles. The University of Arkansas is the host institution for the 2019 championships.
