Mocs Sent to NCAA East Regional

Chattanooga's golf team, which last month won its first Southern Conference championship in 20 years under second-year coach Mark Guhne, learned on Monday where it will be playing its first NCAA Regional. The Mocs won't have far to travel, having been sent to The Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta and the East Regional. The tournament begins May 17.

That's a good news-bad news scenario for Chattanooga, which gets to stay close to home, making it easier for friends and family to attend the matches. But the bad news is the East Regional is loaded. The Mocs will have to tangle with the likes of No. 1 seed Georgia, No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Florida if they want to advance to the NCAA Championships. which will be played May 30-June 2 at the Gold Course at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Georgia Tech is the host of the East Regional which will be played at the 7,020 yard, par-72 layout of the Lakeside Course at Golf Club of Georgia. The course hosted the U.S. Collegiate Championship earlier this season with a 13-team field all ranked in the top 30 in the nation. None of the teams were able to break par in the 54 hole event, with Clemson winning the team title at even par.

“It is a very difficult course” said Chattanooga head coach Mark Guhne. “I think that is really good for us. We do well on tough layouts. Our guys know how to grind. Just about every tournament this year we have been at the top of the field in pars made. When you see a course like this where even par is a good score, it sets up well for us. Our guys are playing well right now and have been done with finals for a week already. They are ready to just go out and play.”

The Mocs lineup will consist of seniors Mitch Brock and Bryce Ledford, sophomore Jonathan Hodge, and freshmen Fredrik Qvicker and Derek Rende. Ledford, Hodge and Rende claimed All-Conference honors at last month’s SoCon Championships, with Hodge named Player of the Year. Rende took home the Freshman of the Year award.

Luke List, the former Baylor School star and Vanderbilt All-American, saw his final college season extended. The Commodores earned an at-large berth into the West Regional, where one of their opponents will be another in-state school, East Tennessee State. Yet another state school, Tennessee, earned the No. 6 seed into the Central Regional.

Three regional tournaments, encompassing the current nine sub-regions, will be conducted May 17-19. A total of 27 teams and six individuals not on selected teams were assigned to each regional site. Ten teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from each regional to the championship finals.

Listed below are the teams and individuals selected to participate in the championships. Teams winning automatic qualification are designated by their conferences in parentheses.

EAST REGIONAL- May 17-19
The Golf Club of Georgia- Alpharetta, Georgia
Hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Georgia
2. Clemson
3. Florida
4. Coastal Carolina (Big South Conference)
5. Georgia Tech (Atlantic Coast Conference)
6. Georgia State
7. Charlotte (Atlantic 10 Conference)
8. North Carolina
9. Florida State
10. Duke
11. Auburn
12. Mississippi
13. Chattanooga (Southern Conference)
14. Alabama-Birmingham
15. UCF
16. Virginia Tech
17. Penn State
18. Old Dominion (Colonial Athletic Association)
19. Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley Conference)
20. Louisiana-Lafayette (Sun Belt Conference)
21. St. John’s (New York)
22. Eastern Michigan (Mid-American Conference)
23. Maryland
24. Longwood
25. Rhode Island
26. Hartford
27. Boston College

Individuals:
1. Duncan Stewart, Jacksonville
2. Fredric Sundberg, Campbell
3. Chris Narramore, Middle Tennessee
4. Matt Cook, Western Carolina
5. Russell Knox, Jacksonville
6. Jeff Dennis, North Florida

CENTRAL REGIONAL-May 17-19
Rich Harvest Farms- Sugar Grove, Illinois
Hosted by Northern Illinois University

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
3. Lamar (Southland Conference)
4. Texas A&M
5. Louisville (Big East Conference)
6. Tennessee (Southeastern Conference)
7. Tulsa (Conference USA)
8. Texas
9. TCU
10. Michigan State (Big Ten Conference)
11. Minnesota
12. Southeastern Louisiana
13. Northwestern
14. Texas Tech
15. Wisconsin
16. Purdue
17. Wichita State
18. Southern Methodist
19. Baylor
20. Kansas
21. Colorado
22. Nebraska
23. Oklahoma
24. Illinois State (Missouri Valley Conference)
25. Western Illinois (Mid-Continent Conference)
26. Siena (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
27. Texas Southern (Southwestern Athletic Conference)

Individuals:
1. Andrew Landry, Arkansas
2. Jorge Campillo, Indiana
3. Jordan Irwin, Houston
4. Mauricio Tamez, Oral Roberts
5. Mike Van Sickle, Marquette
6. Jason Kokrak, Xavier

WEST REGIONAL-May 17-19
Karsten Creek Golf Course- Stillwater, Oklahoma
Hosted by the Oklahoma State

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Stanford
2. UCLA
3. UNLV
4. Southern California (Pacific-10 Conference)
5. East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun Conference)
6. Brigham Young (Mountain West Conference)
7. Arizona State
8. Wake Forest
9. Arizona
10. UC Irvine (Big West Conference)
11. South Carolina
12. Washington
13. Vanderbilt
14. Augusta State
15. Pepperdine (West Coast Conference)
16. San Diego State
17. New Mexico
18. Oregon State
19. Colorado State
20. Oregon
21. California
22. Nevada (Western Athletic Conference)
23. Denver
24. Pennsylvania (Ivy Group)
25. Detroit (Horizon League)
26. Bucknell (Patriot League)
27. Monmouth (Northeast Conference)

Individuals:
1. Brian Locke, Loyola Marymount
2. Dustin Pimm, Utah
3. Darrin Hall, San Diego
4. Michael McRae, St. Mary’s (California)
5. Geoff Gonzalez, Cal Poly
6. Thomas Petersson, Pacific