University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Prepare For NCAA Regionals In Ohio
5/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sand Ridge: Par 71, 7,173 yards Minnesota Start Times: Thursday: 1st Rnd 12:30 p.m. (seeds 10-12) Friday: 2nd Rnd - 8:05 a.m. (seeds 10-12) Saturday: 3rd Rnd - begins 7 a.m. (by standing)
THE PREVIEW The Minnesota Golden Gophers travel to the NCAA Central Regional in Chardon, Ohio at the Tom Fazio-designed Sand Ridge Golf Club. The 10th-seeded Gophers will begin play on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. ET, paired with Lamar and Kent State. This is the 14th straight year the Gophers have advanced to the NCAA Regionals and the 32nd time in the program’s history it has qualified for the NCAA Championships. The 14 straight years is the longest active streak in the Big Ten.
Minnesota is led by two-time All-American Bronson La’Cassie. At the Big Ten Championships two weekends ago, La’Cassie was named Big Ten All- Tournament, First Team All-Big Ten and earned the Les Bolstad Award for lowest scoring average on the season. The award is named for legendary former Minnesota golf coach Les Bolstad. La’Cassie is the top ranked Gopher in the Golfweek stats at No. 77. Joining La’Cassie on the Big Ten All-Tournament team was sophomore Clayton Rask. Rask completed his best tournament as a collegian taking fifth place at the Big Ten Championships at 5-over 289. Rask fired a career-best 69 in round three and recorded a career-high fifth-place finish. The steadiest of all the Gopher players this spring is the Maroon and Gold’s only senior Josh Persons. Persons has posted three top-10 finishes and has carded three rounds in the 60s this season. The only Gopher to play in every tournament this season is junior Niall Turner. Turner won this past fall’s Gopher Invitational for his first collegiate title and leads the team in rounds at par or below with 15. Rounding out the starting five is freshman Victor Almstrom. The Vallingby, Sweden native has played in every event this spring has posted a 74.5 stroke per round average this spring.
NCAA Regional History
The selection marks the 32nd time the Gophers have qualified for the NCAA Championships and 14th straight year the Maroon and Gold have played in a Regional. Minnesota has qualified for the 81-team NCAA field each year under fifth-year head coach Brad James. The Gophers are the No. 10 seed, one of three Big Ten teams in the region. Northwestern is the ninth seed, the automatic qualifier out of the Big Ten, and Purdue, is the No. 15 seed.
This is the 14th straight appearance by the Gophers at the Regionals, the longest streak of any Big Ten team. Penn State had its 16 straight appearance streak snapped this season. The Gophers had reached the NCAA Championships six consecutive seasons from 1998-2003, including an NCAA title in 2002, before missing the cut the previous two seasons.
Golfweek rankings (as of May 8)
Team 33
(second highest Big Ten team/Northwestern #28)
Individuals
La’Cassie - 77
Persons - 173
Turner - 183
Almstrom - 271
Rask - 426
