Indianapolis, Ind. – The Virginia Tech men’s golf team received an at-large bid to the 2015 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. The Hokies will compete May 14-16, 2015, as the seventh seed in the Noblesville Regional at Sagamore Golf Club in Noblesville, Indiana, hosted by Ball State University.
This will be the Hokies’ ninth consecutive NCAA appearance and their 17th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championship. The Noblesville Regional field is headlined by No. 1 seed Illinois, the 2015 Big Ten Conference champion. The Hokies opened the season with an eighth place finish at the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational, which was won by the Fighting Illini and featured arguably the top field in collegiate golf during the regular season. Also in the Noblesville field is two-time defending national champion, Alabama.
“This is a humbling experience to once again be selected for the NCAA Championship,” head coach Jay Hardwick said. “Reaching post-season play is always our goal and it is special that we have achieved this for the ninth consecutive year. Our student-athletes have shown the drive and dedication needed to succeed and its very gratifying for them to be recognized in this manner. It also speaks to the strength of the ACC that 10 teams have made this year’s field.”
Virginia Tech won two events during the regular season and finished in the top eight of its 11 events this year. Tech finished sixth at the 62nd Annual ACC Men’s Golf Championship last week and senior Trevor Cone was tri-champion, individually. Fellow senior Scott Vincent and Cone currently rank first and second on the Virginia Tech all-time scoring average list.
The Hokies enter the regionals ranked 40th nationally by Golfstat.com and 39th nationally by the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Virginia Tech is one of 10 Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the regionals and the only ACC team competing in Noblesville. The 10 teams in the field from the ACC is a new league record and is the most schools from any one conference this season.
Illinois is the No. 1 seed in Noblesville, followed by Oregon, UCLA, Alabama, SMU, UNLV, the Hokies, Georgia Southern, Colorado, New Mexico State, East Carolina, Marquette, Alabama State and Pennsylvania. Six of the 14 teams in the Noblesville field are 2015 conference champions. The Hokies are a combined 4-4 this season against the field in Noblesville, with two of the losses coming to top-seed Illinois.
“The Noblesville regional is populated with outstanding teams, players and coaches,” Hardwick said. “Our team knows they need to play at the highest level to advance to the Finals. We are looking forward to the challenge and representing the Hokie Nation.”
The Sagamore Golf Club is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and was founded in 2003. The course will play as a par-72 and measure 7,173 yards.
There are six regional sites. Three sites, including Noblesville, have 14 teams and five individuals, while the other three sites have 13 teams and 10 individuals. The top five teams from each site advance to the NCAA Championship, along with the low individual from each site not on an advancing team. The national championship will be played at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida May 29 through June 3.
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