May 12, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's golf team begins play in the NCAA Regional, hosted by the University of Washington, Monday at the Aldarra Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. Teams will tee off beginning at 8 a.m. PT in opening round action with live stats available on Golfstat.com.
NCAA NOTES
- This is Penn State's third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Regional Championships and 23rd overall since the field expanded in 1990.
- A year ago, the Nittany Lions finished the NCAA Regional in ninth place from the Kohler, Wisconsin site.
- The Nittany Lions have five Top 10 finishes in the regional round, including a program-high No. 4 finish in 2010.
- Penn State has 35 overall appearances in postseason NCAA action, dating back to 1947.
TOURNAMENT AND COURSE INFO
Nine of 14 teams at the regional site are ranked in the Golfstat Top 50, along with five individual competitors on the 6,885-yard par-71 course. The top five teams from each of the six regional sites and the top individual finisher not on an advancing team will advance to the national championships to be played May 26-31 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
The 14-team regional is highlighted by No. 1 seed USC, who enters the event ranked No. 1 in the country. Kent State, ranked No. 12 in the nation, is the No. 2 seed, followed by No. 3 seed and 13th-ranked Texas A&M. The rest of the field includes No. 4 Florida State (24), No. 5 Washington (30), No. 6 Alabama (36), No. 7 San Diego State (37), No. 8 UTEP (48), No. 9 Penn State (49), No. 10 Michigan, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 12 Seattle, No. 13 Marquette and No. 14 Bryant.
Teams will complete 18 holes (54 total) of stroke play each of the three days.
A total of 81 NCAA Division I schools received invitations to play in one of six regional events that will be held in College Grove, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee State), West Lafayette, Indiana (Purdue), Stanford, California (Stanford), Austin, Texas (Texas), Baton Rouge, Louisiana (LSU) and Sammamish, Washington (Washington).
A LOOK AT THE COURSE
Built on the original site of the Boeing family farm, Aldarra offers a challenging par 71 layout that meanders through rolling terrain with stunning views of nearby Mount Si and the Cascade mountain range. Just minutes east of Seattle, Aldarra Golf Club is the only golf course in Washington designed by world renowned golf course designer Tom Fazio. The absence of homes on the golf course, along with the pristine condition of the golf course and a world class design make Aldarra a true golfers paradise.
NITTANY LION NOTES
- Penn State won four events in 2016-17 and finished in the top-5 in all but two. The Lions won three of four events to start the spring, capturing the Athletic Directors' Trophy against West Virginia, the Challenge at Champions against Michigan State and the 14-team Seminole Intercollegiate. They also won their home tournament, the Rutherford Intercollegiate, sharing the title with Georgetown.
- The Nittany Lions finished with two golfers in the top-6 and shot their lowest round of the Big Ten Championship to finish in a three-way tie for fourth with Iowa and Purdue in the 14-team field in Baltimore, Maryland April 28-30. Sophomore Charles Huntzinger shot his only subpar round in a 3-under 67 to finish at 2-under for the tournament after back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18. Huntzinger finished tied for 4th place with five birdies and two bogies on the day.
- Junior Cole Miller and sophomore Charles Huntzinger combined for five individual tournament titles out of the team's 10 events (not including match play).
- Junior Cole Miller and sophomore Charles Huntzinger are the only golfers on the current roster to take part in a NCAA Regional previously. Huntzinger and Miller were among the Top 30 individual finishers a year ago, coming in at Nos. 21 and 29, respectively. Huntzinger, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, had a 72 on the day and a three-round score of 216. Just one stroke behind, Miller had a personal tournament-best 71 Wednesday, ending with a 217. In 2015, then-freshman Miller finished even on par in the second and third rounds to finish in the No. 41 spot.
- A pair of Penn State golfers were recognized with Big Ten honors in a vote of the league's coaches. Sophomore Charles Huntzinger was a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten honoree, while junior Cole Miller earned second-team honors and the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. One of three unanimous first-team selections, Huntzinger is the sixth First Team All-Big Ten honoree in Penn State's history and the first since 2010. He follows up a second-team nod as a freshman last season
- The Nittany Lion men's golf program is one of 18 Penn State programs to achieve an Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 1,000 for the 2015-16 year, the NCAA announced recently. The program's multi-year APR score moved up seven points from a year ago.
- Cody Cox was acknowledged for having the team's highest GPA at Penn State's annual end-of-year awards ceremony -- The Nittanys. A senior from Milford, Pennsylvania, Cox graduated May 6 with a degree in Film & Video Production. Fellow senior Christian Elliott, a product of Port Perry, Ontario, also earned his degree in finance.