Colorado State University Athletics
Men?s Golf Prepares for NCAA Regional
5/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 9, 2003 - The Colorado State men?s golf team received their eighth straight bid to the NCAA regional tournament on Monday. A school record for a men?s sport. The tournament begins on May 15 and will run through May 17. The event is being held at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash., with the University of Washington serving as the host school. The tournament is one of three regional sites around the country. Kansas State and Auburn are the other schools hosting regional events.
There are a total of 27 teams competing in the regional with the top 10 teams moving on to the NCAA Championship on May 27. The tournament will consist of 54-holes of stroke play over three days of competition. All ties will be broken in accordance with NCAA rules.
The field consists of some of the elite programs from around the nation. Of the 27 teams, 18 are ranked in the top 50 nationally by Golfweek. The list includes No. 6 Arizona, No. 10 UNLV, No. 11 UCLA, No. 13 Georgia, No. 16 Arizona State, No. 17 New Mexico, No. 19 Washington, No. 25 Pepperdine, No. 28 UC Irvine, No. 29 Southern California, No. 31 San Diego State, No. 34 Fresno State, No. 38 UTEP, No. 39 California, No. 41 BYU, No. 44 Denver, No. 46 Colorado State, and No. 49 Oregon.
The list also includes 12 conference champions and seven of the teams in this year?s field will be attempting to return to the NCAA Championship for the second straight year.
There are 17 individuals in the field ranked in the top 50 nationally, the most notable being No. 5 Nick Watney of Fresno State and No. 10 Ricky Barnes of Arizona. Martin Laird from CSU is currently ranked 40th.
Colorado State qualified for the regional after one of the most successful seasons in school history. The Rams competed in 12 events this year and finished in the top 10 in each of them, tying a school record. They also broke the team record for per round average in a season, making the new mark 290.94. The team?s best finish came at the BYU Cougar Classic as the team brought home top honors for their first win of the season and their 15th in school history.
The team will be looking to Martin Laird and Nolan Martin to provide leadership in the NCAA tournament.
Martin Laird finished in the top 10 in his last eight tournaments to break the school record for top 10 finishes in a season. Laird also won two tournaments this year, the Cougar Classic and the El Diablo Intercollegiate tournament, becoming the first player in school history to win more than one tournament in a season. Laird also broke the school record for lowest per round average in a season with 71.21.He finished the season with a second place finish at the Mountain West Conference championships and should finish well at the NCAA regional.
Nolan Martin also put together a great year for the Rams. Coming in as a transfer Martin had an immediate effect. He competed in 12 tournaments this year and recorded five top 10 finishes and nine top 20 finishes. Martin was second on the team for average at 72.03.
Colorado State will take an experienced group into the NCAA tournament. The team?s five-man field will consist of: junior Martin Laird, junior Nolan Martin, senior Geoff Nuwash, senior Tommy Sharp, and junior Brett Tobyne.
Results will be available at the conclusion of play each day at csurams.com.
