No. 17 Gamecocks Headed West for NCAA Regionals

COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 17 South Carolina is headed west for postseason play as its seeded third in the NCAA Pulman Regional. The 81-team regional field was announced live on the Golf Channel by the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee on Wednesday night. it marks the 12^th NCAA Regional appearance (27^th all-time) in the last 13 seasons under head coach Bill McDonald.
 
Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 13-15.  Thirteen teams and ten individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams.  The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals.
 
Team and individual medalist titles will be decided May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The University of Arkansas is the host institution for the 2019 championships.
 
The Gamecocks will be joined by No. 20 Texas A&M and Florida from the SEC in Washington. No. 5 Oklahoma is the top seed, with No. 8 Georgia Tech seeded second.
 
Carolina has had an outstanding spring, with three wins in six regular season events including a runner-up showing and a third-place finish in a loaded field at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational back in March. Six players have a spring scoring average below 72 led by senior Will Miles (69.79). The Hilton Head Island, S.C., notched the first two wins of his collegiate career this spring at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate and the Southern Intercollegiate.
 
Serving as the interim head coach, McDonald led Carolina to the 2007 NCAA West Regional Title, the program’s first and only regional championship. He’s led the Gamecocks to six NCAA Championship appearances, including a program record four-straight trips from 2013-16. McDonald’s team advanced to the NCAA Match Play Quarterfinals for the first time in 2016, with a program-best T-5^th finish at the NCAA Championship that season.
 
Three-time All-American Kyle Thompson, who spent a number of years playing professionally on the PGA TOUR, earned individual medalist honors at NCAA Regionals two times (1999, 2001). Fellow three-time All-American Matt NeSmith came close to joining Thompson as the program’s only individual regional champions in 2016, earning runner-up medalist honors at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional.
 
NCAA Pulman Regional Field
Palouse Ridge Golf Club – Pullman, Washington
Hosted by Washington State University
1. Oklahoma
2. Georgia Tech
3. South Carolina
4. Texas A&M
5. UCLA
6. BYU
7. Colorado State
8. Florida
9. Michigan State
10. Purdue
11. Kent State
12. Northern Colorado
13. Wright State
14. Iona
 
Individuals:
1. Thomas Hutchison, UC Davis
2. Zach Smith, UC Santa Barbara
3. Daniel O’Loughlin, Colorado
4. Tim Widing, San Francisco
5. Jake Chanen, Grand Canyon
 
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