May 20, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. — University of South Carolina Men’s Golf head coach Bill McDonald and redshirt senior Sean Kelly addressed the media on Friday in advance of the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship. The Gamecocks will compete for a national championship from May 27 ââ’¬” June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

The Gamecocks will be making their 20th appearance at the NCAA Championship and their fourth consecutive trip to the season-ending event. McDonald’s team also has experience at Eugene Country Club, where they finished fifth in an NCAA Regional in 2014.

“I think it’s a good golf course for us; it should suit us,” McDonald said of the layout in Eugene. “The first goal is to get through the cut to 15 on Sunday, then the race to eight on Monday is always exciting. I think our guys are ready for it, and we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”

The Gamecocks qualified for the NCAA Championship by finishing second at the Tuscaloosa Regional, which was played May 16-18 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. South Carolina finished just four strokes behind Georgia with a team score of 852 (-12), while individually Matt NeSmith (208, -8) was at the forefront of a strong top-to-bottom effort with a second-place result.

“When you look at the golf that was played, Sean Kelly and Keenan Huskey both had top 10’s. Will Starke was right there around 20th, and our freshman, Scott Stevens, comes out in the last round and gives us an under par round,” McDonald said. “Everybody contributed, and that’s been the theme for this group all year.”

The NCAA Championship presents the toughest challenge of the season for the 30 teams who will descend upon Eugene. Teams will play three 18-hole rounds starting Friday, May 27, with the top 15 teams and the top nine individuals not on those teams advancing to a final stroke play round on Monday, May 30. From there, the top eight stroke play finishers will move on to match play, with quarterfinal and semifinal matches to be contested on Tuesday, May 31. The two teams to survive will play in the national championship match on Wednesday, June 1.

“You take it one day at a time,” Kelly said of the grueling schedule. “You try to get through stroke play, and then when match play comes, it’s anyone’s game. You just want to make match play, and then anything can happen. It’s really important to keep that attitude through stroke play and try to get through.”

Seniors NeSmith and Starke were part of the 2014 squad that qualified out of the Eugene Regional, and they are the first two Gamecocks to appear in four NCAA Championships during their collegiate careers. Kelly will be making his third NCAA Championship appearance, while Huskey and Stevens will make their nationals debuts.

Golf Channel will provide live television coverage of the final three days of the NCAA Championship, and Golfstat will have live hole-by-hole scoring throughout the event. For more information on the 2016 NCAA Championship, stay tuned to @GamecockMGolf on Twitter or click on the NCAA’s Tournament Central Page.