May 20, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Penn State's men's golf team starts action today at Yale in 2010 NCAA Regional competition. The Nittany Lions are making their 20th NCAA Regional appearance in the last 21 years with competition running through Saturday, May 22. Today marks the start of the qualifying tournaments at the six sites that will host the 81 teams and 45 individuals competing for a bid to the 2010 NCAA Championships.
"In my 18 years here at Penn State this team probably made the single biggest comeback over the year to qualify for the NCAA tournament," said head coach Greg Nye. "Through injuries and other uncontrollable events last fall, a hole was dug for us but we came together and fought our way back, an effort in which we should all be proud of. "
In 2004, the last time Yale hosted a regional tournament, the Nittany Lions finished in second place to advance to the 2004 NCAA Finals, where they placed 15th, defeating four of the nation's top 15 teams in the process.
"Yale is certainly a place where we have had success, but this is a new team six years later," said Nye. "We are going to have to be prepared for this unusual golf course and setting and come out ready to fight hard."
The No. 66 Nittany Lions (rankings by Golfstat) will compete on The Course at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., among a 14-team field with five individuals in the 54-hole tournament. The teams include UCLA (6), Texas (7), South Carolina (17), Virginia (19), Alabama (29), East Tennessee State (32), Southeastern Louisiana (42), Charlotte (47), Kent State (52), Vanderbilt (56), North Carolina-Wilmington (71), Columbia (206), and Lafayette (243).
The individuals competing at Yale are Max McKay of Liberty (229), Ben Herrera of Iowa State (166), Harold Varner of East Carolina (228), Robert Karlsson of Liberty (132), and Scotty Williams of Pennsylvania (649).
The top five teams from each regional site and the low individual, not of those teams, will advance to the NCAA Championships on June 1-6 at The Honors Course near Chattanooga, Tenn.
--NITTANY LIONS