University of Houston Athletics
Golf Earns Berth to NCAA West Regional
5/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 8, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston golf team returned to the NCAA postseason Monday when it received an at-large berth to the NCAA West Regional.
The 54-hole postseason event is slated to be held May 18-20 at Omni Tucson National's Catalina Course. Action is slated to tee off around 7 a.m. (CDT) each day beginning May 18 and running through May 20 with 18 holes scheduled each day. Tee times are to be announced.
The Cougars, who were seeded No. 13, were one of 27 teams and six individuals that make up the 141-man field on the par-72, 7,200-yard layout.
Tournament seeding is as follows (conference champion if listed): 1. Florida, 2. Arizona State, 3. Brigham Young, 4. East Tennessee State, 5. Baylor, 6. Alabama, 7. Arizona; 8. San Diego State, 9. North Carolina State, 10. Washington, 11. New Mexico (Mountain West Conference), 12. Stanford, 13. Houston, 14. Pepperdine, 15. Louisville, 16. Denver, 17. Santa Clara, 18. New Mexico State (Western Athletic Conference), 19. Fresno State, 20. UC-Irvine, 21. Nevada, 22. San Diego, 23. Cal Poly (Big West Conference), 24. Western Kentucky (Sun Belt Conference), 25. Loyola Marymount (West Coast Conference), 26. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference), and 27. Bucknell (Patriot League).
Live tournament scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com. Tournament results can be found at Arizona's official athletic website, www.arizonaathletics.com, and at www.ncaasports.com.
This marks the first time since 2002 that the Cougars will compete as a team at an NCAA Regional. Brett Callas (2003) and current Cougar Zach Mowbray (2004) received individual at-large invitations during their respective seasons.
The Cougars bring an award-winning resume into the Regional. UH rattled off four consecutive team tournament championships to open the 2006 spring season, accomplishing that feat for the first time in more than two decades.
Junior Pablo Acuna, a 2006 All-Conference USA First-Team honoree won medalist honors at the Santa Anita/North Texas Classic on Feb. 19-20, while Jordan Irwin successfully defended his individual title at the Palmetto Intercollegiate on March 13-14.
Acuna leads the team with a 72.0 scoring average, while junior Ricky Romano, who was a 2006 All-Conference USA Second-Team selection, was a close second at 72.5.
Seniors Kevin Newman fired a UH-season-best-tying 67 in the opening round of the Louisiana Classics on March 6. Mowbray is the only member of the team with postseason experience after competing during the 2004 NCAA Central Regional.
Players Mentioned
