May 5, 2008

After capturing its 22nd Southland Conference title last month, the Lamar men's golf team earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regional and has received a No. 6 seed to the NCAA Central Regional, set for May 15-17 at Ohio State University's famed Scarlet Golf Course, the NCAA announced on Monday.

Lamar is making its eighth-consecutive NCAA Central Regional appearance and ninth all-time since the regional format began in 1990.

The Cardinals have posted their highest regional finishes in school history in each of the last three years - placing 12th in 2005, fifth in 2006 and fourth in 2007.

Fellow Southland Conference member Texas-Arlington was selected as the No. 17 seed in the Central Region.

Lamar heads a list of eight total teams from Texas competing in the three regionals. In the Central is Texas A&M (No. 9 seed), TCU (No. 16), UTA (No. 17) and Baylor (No. 20); in the East is SMU (No. 18); and in the West is Texas Tech (No. 8) and Texas (No. 12).

Each of the three NCAA Regionals consists of 27 teams and six individuals not on one of those teams.

All three Regionals will be contested May 15-17 and will consist of 54 holes, 18 each day. The top 10 teams and two individuals not on an advancing team will advance to the NCAA Championships May 28-31 on the Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.

Listed below are the teams and individuals selected to participate in the championships. Teams winning automatic qualification are designated by their conferences in parentheses.

EAST REGIONAL- May 15-17
Council Fire Golf Club - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Hosted by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Georgia
2. Charlotte (Atlantic 10 Conference)
3. South Carolina
4. Duke
5. Chattanooga (Southern Conference)
6. Auburn
7. East Tennessee State
8. Michigan State (Big Ten Conference)
9. Mississippi
10. UAB (Conference USA)
11. Virginia Tech
12. North Carolina State
13. Mississippi State
14. Georgia State (Colonial Athletic Conference)
15. North Florida (Atlantic Sun Conference)
16. UC Irvine (Big West Conference)
17. Augusta State
18. SMU
19. Middle Tennessee
20. Coastal Carolina (Big South Conference)
21. Memphis
22. Virginia
23. Western Carolina
24. Colorado State (Mountain West Conference)
25. New Mexico State (Western Athletic Conference)
26. Western Illinois (The Summit League)
27. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference)


Individuals:
1. Keegan Bradley, St. John's (New York)
2. Jose Toledo, New Orleans
3. Johnny Caldwell, South Alabama
4. Michael McGrady, Troy
5. Jon Curran, Vanderbilt
6. Grant Leaver, Austin Peay State

CENTRAL REGIONAL-May 15-17
Scarlet Golf Course - Columbus, Ohio
Hosted by The Ohio State University

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Alabama (Southeastern Conference)
2. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
3. Georgia Tech
4. Florida
5. Tennessee
6. Lamar (Southland Conference)
7. Wake Forest
8. Indiana
9. Texas A&M
10. Louisville
11. Wichita State (Missouri Valley Conference)
12. Kent State
13. Penn State
14. Arkansas
15. Michigan
16. TCU
17. Texas-Arlington
18. Illinois
19. Ohio State
20. Baylor
21. Colorado
22. Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley Conference)
23. Marquette (Big East Conference)
24. Eastern Michigan (Mid-American Conference)
25. Cleveland State (Horizon League)
26. Loyola (Maryland) (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
27. Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference)

Individuals:
1. Chris Baker, Iowa State
2. Clayton Rask, Minnesota
3. Josh Sandman, Notre Dame
4. Victor Almstrom, Minnesota
5. Brent Long, Western Kentucky
6. Jordan Weber, Northern Iowa

WEST REGIONAL-May 15-17
Gold Mountain Golf Club - Bremerton, Wash.
Hosted by University of Washington

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Southern California
2. UCLA
3. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference)
4. Stanford
5. Clemson
6. UNLV
7. North Carolina
8. Texas Tech
9. Central Florida
10. Arizona State (Pacific-10 Conference)
11. San Diego State
12. Texas
13. LSU
14. Oregon State
15. Pepperdine
16. Oregon
17. California
18. St. Mary's (Calif.)
19. Kentucky
20. Wisconsin
21. Washington
22. Oklahoma
23. Kansas State
24. San Diego (West Coast Conference)
25. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
26. Navy (The Patriot League)
27. Columbia (Ivy Group)

Individuals:
1. Troy Merritt, Boise State
2. Brian Locke, Loyola Marymount
3. Tarquin Macmanus, Arizona
4. Jason D'Amore, Loyola Marymount
5. Nathan Stamey, North Carolina-Greensboro
6. Jimmy Lytle, Elon

Stanford University's men's golf team won the 2007 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, capturing their first NCAA title since 1994 and eighth overall. The Cardinal finished with a 12-stroke victory over the University of Georgia (1,121), Lamar University (1,125) and University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1,125).

Jamie Lovemark, University of Southern California, finished with a 9-under 271 and became the first USC men's golfer to win the NCAA individual championships in 26 years.

The tournament was held at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University.