RCW: Sport Spotlight 4.33 (Men's Golf)
WE’RE NCAA BOUND! #KUgolf is the No. 8 seed at the Stockton, Calif., NCAA Regional. #3Straight #20thRegional #RockChalk pic.twitter.com/PgaAxn3GlH
— Kansas Men’s Golf (@KUMensGolf) May 2, 2018
A post shared by Kansas Men’s Golf (@kumensgolf) on May 2, 2018 at 9:55am PDT
Thanks to nine top-5 finishes on the season, a tournament victory at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate and a No. 42-ranking on the Golfweek top-50 list, the Kansas men’s golf team earned an at-large bid to play at the 2018 NCAA Regional Championship in Stockton, California. The selection marks the 20th Regional selection in program history.
“I’m happy for the team,” said Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel. “They worked hard this year and were rewarded with another Regional selection.”
The selection also extends the streak to three-consecutive Regional appearances for the Jayhawks, which is a mark that hasn’t been done since legendary coach Ross Randall took the team to postseason appearances in 2003-05.
“I think we’ve continued to get the right players into the program,” Bermel credited the team’s recent success. “Every year in recruiting, (associate head coach Chris Wilson) and I try to upgrade the talent and help the development of each player. (Wilson) Has been very helpful with on-course management and helping the guys understand when to attack the course and when par is a good score.”
During the team’s previous two Regional appearances, the Jayhawks walked away with a 10th-place finish in 2016 and a ninth-place finish in 2017. Now, as the No. 8 seed out of 13 teams heading to Stockton, the team will need a top-5 finish in order to advance the NCAA Championship.
While the Jayhawks have moved on to the NCAA Championship 11 times in program history, advancing this year would be the first NCAA Championship appearance for the team since the 2000 season. The team’s best performance at the NCAA Championship came during the 1950 season, when a team score of 600 was good for 11th place.
With an NCAA National Championship appearance on the line, Bermel knows his team will need to bring its A-game to California. The three-day Regional event begins on May 14, and will be played at The Reserve at Spanos Park.
