University of Houston Athletics
Men's Golf to Compete at NCAA Lubbock Regional
5/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
HOUSTON - For the fourth consecutive season, the University of Houston Men's Golf program will compete in the NCAA postseason when it takes part at the NCAA Lubbock Regional on The Rawls Course at Texas Tech on May 14-16.
The Cougars, who will compete as the No. 6 seed, learned their postseason destination on Monday morning during the NCAA Selection Show. Director of Golf Jonathan Dismuke, associate head coach Ryke Dismuke and team members watched the show on the Golf Channel before joining the team's annual Dave Williams Pro-Am at The Woodlands Country Club.
"It's always fun to see where you are going, and this is a great time of year," Jonathan Dismuke said. "We work hard all year to have this opportunity, and we are looking forward to going to Lubbock and having the chance to compete in our fourth straight Regional."
The rest of the field includes No. 1 seed Texas, No. 2 seed and host Texas Tech, No. 3 seed Auburn, No. 4 seed North Florida, No. 5 seed California, No. 7 seed Louisville, No. 8 seed Duke, No. 9 seed Southeastern Louisiana, No. 10 seed Purdue, No. 11 seed Georgia State, No. 12 seed UC Irvine and No. 13 seed Charleston Southern.
Tomasz Anderson (Jacksonville State), Adria Arnaus (Texas A&M), Victor Lange (Texas Tech), Tyler McDaniel (Kentucky) David Snyder (Kentucky), Greg Yates (Texas A&M), Martin Simonsen (UTEP), Matt Mabrey (Tulsa), Jake Sherwin (Florida Gulf Coast), Nicolas Platret (Texas-Pan American) will compete as individuals at the Regional.
The NCAA Lubbock Regional is one of six 54-hole tournaments that will be held at NCAA Regional sites on May 14-16. The other NCAA Regional sites are: UNC Finley Golf Course, hosted by North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.; The Farms Golf Club, hosted by San Diego in San Diego.; Golf Mountain Golf Club, hosted by Washington in Bremerton, Wash.; The Course at Yale, hosted by Yale in New Haven, Conn.; and The Sagamore Club, hosted by Ball State in Noblesville, Ind.
The low five teams and low individual not on those teams will advance to the NCAA Championships, slated for May 29-June 3 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
ABOUT THE COUGARSThe Cougars enter the NCAA postseason at No. 35 in the latest Golfstat national rankings. Under Dismuke's leadership, the Cougars have earned eight top-5 finishes in 11 team-scoring tournaments this season, including the team championship at the Miramont Invitational on Oct. 13-14, 2014.
"We are trending in the right direction," Dismuke said. "We need to get a couple of guys healthy, but we have had a couple of weeks since The American Championships."
This season, senior All-American Roman Robledo leads the Cougars the a 72.26 scoring average and 20 rounds of par or better, including eight in the 60s. The Harlingen, Texas, native has tallied five top-10 showings this season and ranks among the Cougars' top-10 career leaders in tournaments titles (5), strokes (10,498), rounds played (145) and stroke average (72.40).
Junior Blair Hamilton is a close second on the team with a 72.28 average and 14 rounds of par or better. The Burlington, Ontario, Canada, native has posted a pair of top-5 finishes this season and earned the first individual title of his career with a score of 9-under-par 207 at the Border Olympics on March 13-14.
As he wraps up his Houston career, senior Kyle Pilgrim has saved his best play of the season for the end. The Colleyville, Texas, native has posted three straight top-13 finishes in his last three tournaments, including an eighth-place showing at the American Athletic Conference Championships.
The Cougars enter the NCAA postseason on the heels of a fourth-place finish at the American Athletic Conference Championships on April 26-27 on The Quarry Course at Black Diamond Ranch in LeCanto, Fla. In addition to Pilgrim, Robledo finished in a tie for 10th at 2-under-par 214 for his fourth straight top-10 finish at a conference Championships event.
NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
This marks the fourth straight season in which the Cougars will compete in an NCAA Regional. It is the first time since 1999-02 that the Cougars will accomplish that feat.
It also will be the 18th NCAA Regional appearance in the rich history of the Houston Men's Golf program.
A year ago, Houston competed as the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Eugene Regional and finished fourth at that event to earn the program's first berth to the NCAA Championships since 2001. At the NCAA Eugene Regional, Robledo and Curtis Reed tied for eight at the Eugene Country Club with scores of 215.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive the latest Men's Golf news and notes by following @UHCougarGolf on Twitter. Fans also can discuss the latest Houston Golf news and notes on the team's Facebook page at HoustonCougarGolf.
