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2008 NCAA Golf Championship Selections Announced
May 5, 2008
Links: MILWAUKEE - At an off-campus gathering with Marquette University alumni, family and friends, the Golden Eagles' men's golf team learned Monday they were one of 27 teams selected to compete at the NCAA Central Regional hosted by Ohio State, May 15-17, at Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio. This year's NCAA Central Regional is one of three regional tournaments, and was the site Marquette was expecting to travel to due to its proximity. Chattanooga, Tenn. (Council Fire Golf Club) will be the site of the East Regional, while the West Regional will be played in Bremerton, Wash. (Gold Mountain Golf Club). A complete list of NCAA Central Regional participants is listed at the bottom of the page. "We would have been happy wherever we would have went, but we've played pretty well in Ohio," said head coach Tim Grogan. "We won two tournaments there at Xavier and then won the BIG EAST. It's a Midwest golf course. The guys are comfortable with that, so it's all plusses I think." MU garnered the No. 23 regional seed. The team earned its first-ever berth to the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship by virtue of winning the 2008 BIG EAST title at Traditions Golf Club in Hebron, Ky., April 20-22. It was the program's first conference championship and first BIG EAST crown in any team sport since the school joined the league in 2005. Junior Mike Van Sickle earned an at-large selection to compete in the 2007 Central Regional tournament, where he competed as an individual. The top 10 teams at each regional, along with the top two individuals not already on an advancing team, will advance to the championship final May 28-31 at the Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. Van Sickle is familiar with the Ohio State golf course, having played a U.S. Open qualifier there last year, losing in a playoff by one stroke. "It's a course that really sets up well for me, and I think it's going to set up pretty well for our team, too," said Van Sickle. "It's a bit of a longer course, but we've got some big hitters on the team. "Mike Bielawski and Ted Gray are probably playing their best golf of the entire year, going back to the fall, right now," Van Sickle added. "We've definitely got guys peaking at the right time. Dustin Schwab seems to have found his game again after his last round at conference. [Kelly] Kretz always has the ability to play well every time out, so I think as a team we're really hitting in stride right now." In addition to winning the BIG EAST Championship, the Golden Eagles are arguably on the cusp of their greatest season ever. Marquette has won three events in 2007-08, a school record, and has two runner-up finishes. The squad has also placed in the top-five in nine of 11 tournaments this year. Three players -- Gray, Van Sickle and Bielawski -- earned All-BIG EAST honors, Gray was medalist at the BIG EAST Championship and Grogan was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons. The seniors realize the improvement the team has made during their brief tenure. They also realize how special an opportunity it is to advance in the postseason. Although it's a new experience, Gray and Bielawski believe their team has the talent to reach the finals. "I've been talking about this since my freshman year - wanting to go this far," said Gray. "It's finally happened and it's definitively exciting. Once finals are done, we'll tune things up and hopefully be ready to go." "We're not the kind of team that's going to say we're just happy to participate," Bielawski said. "There's no reason for us as a team to think that we shouldn't keep advancing." Teams will be allowed one practice round on Wednesday, May 14. Marquette is slated for an 11:20 a.m. CT time slot, beginning on hole 10. The Golden Eagles' probable line-up is Van Sickle, Gray, Bielawski, Kretz and Schwab. A total of 54 holes will make up the regional tournaments. The NCAA championship at the end of the month will be a 72-hole event. "All five guys have got to play well, which we showed at conference a little bit," Grogan said. "We haven't done it consistently where all three rounds all five guys are keeping it right around par, so if we do that we have as good of a chance as any team."
NCAA DIVISION I CENTRAL REGIONAL
Teams (seeded in the following order):
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