May 6, 2008

Cullowhee, N.C. - On the strength of a strong regular season and a third-place finish at the annual Southern Conference Championship at the Country Club of South Carolina, the Western Carolina men's golf team today garnered the school's first-ever, at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

WCU will join SoCon-champion, Chattanooga, in the East Regional which the Mocs are hosting at the Council Fire Golf Club May 15-17. The Catamounts are the 23rd seed in the East, receiving the final at-large bid into the region.

Georgia garnered the top seed in the East, followed by Charlotte, South Carolina, Duke and UTC, rounding out the top five. The top 10 teams and top two individuals not on one of the advancing teams from each of the three regional sites will advance to the National Championship May 28-31.

Senior Matt Cook will be making his third-straight appearance in the NCAA post-season. The individual medalist at last month's Southern Conference men's golf championship, Cook earned two-consecutive, at-large bids each of the past two seasons. The Murphy, N.C., native posted a school-best, 20th-place finish at last year's East Regional with a three-round score of 223.

The Catamounts are one of six teams in the region to have played the course at Council Fire in the season-opening Scenic City Invitational back in mid-September, 2007. Western finished 15th at the event, but carded the 10th-best 54-hole score in school history at 879 (298-287-294).

Fans can follow all of the action from the East Regional with live scoring at www.golfstatresults.com.