Gophers Begin NCAA Championships Play Wednesday in Oregon

THE PREVIEW The Minnesota Golden Gophers head to their seventh NCAA finals appearance in the last nine years as they travel to Sunriver, Ore., for the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships. The Gophers, NCAA Champions in 2002, reached the finals for the first time since 2003 by finishing sixth at the Central Regional in Chardon, Ohio. Sophomore Clayton Rask earned his second top-10 finish in as many tournaments with a 2-over-par 215 performance at the Sand Ridge Golf Club. Rask earned All-Big Ten Tournament honors in April by finishing fifth at the Big Ten Championships. Led by two-time All-American Bronson La’Cassie, Minnesota has been remarkably consistent over the past two months. La’Cassie has picked up his play when it mattered most. The junior from Brisbane, Queensland, battled back after an opening round 77 at the Regionals to post two consecutive even-par rounds of 71 to tie for 24th. La’Cassie fired a third round 68 at Big Tens and a final round 74 amidst horrible weather conditions to rally the Maroon and Gold to a runner-up finish at Big Tens. The steadiest of all the Gopher players this spring is Minnesota’s only senior Josh Persons. Persons has posted three top-10 finishes and has carded three rounds in the 60s during the spring. 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 16. Rounding out the starting five is freshman Victor Almstrom. The Vallingby, Sweden native has played in every event this spring has posted a 74.6 stroke per round average this spring.

NCAA finals appearances since 1998
Arizona - 9
Georgia Tech - 9
Oklahoma State - 9
Florida - 8
Washington - 8
Georgia - 8
Clemson - 8
Arizona State - 8
Minnesota - 7
UNLV - 7
North Carolina - 7

Minnesota NCAA History NCAA Championships Individual Participants Year Name Place Score 1944 Louis Lick 1st 1951 John Kohler 17th 1 up 1957 Tom Hadley 16th 1 up 1960 Eugene Hansen 3rd 1 up 1961 Rolf Deming 16th 1 up 1961 Carson Herron 26th 1 up 1965 David Gumlia 11th 291 1966 Willie Brask 20th 296 1966 Jim Carlson 15th 295 1968 Bill Brask 3rd 284 1970 Dave Haberle 37th 298 1971 Dave Haberle M Cut 148 1972 Richard Ehrmanntraut M Cut 152 1972 Jim Bergeson M Cut 154 1972 John Harris M Cut 154 1972 Gary Wert M Cut 163 1972 John Carr M Cut 169 1973 John Harris 17th 1974 John Harris 43rd 306 1977 Miles Prestemon M Cut 239 1978 Miles Prestemon 116th 230 1979 Tom Lehman 36th 302 1980 Tom Lehman 20th 297 1981 Tom Lehman M Cut 223 1993 Joe Gullion 24th 293 1996 Rob Kerr M Cut 157 1998 Adam Dooley T-60th 292 1998 Rob Kerr 82nd 303 1998 Martin LeMesurier T-20th 283 1998 James McLean 1st 271 1998 Bill Thompson T-65th 293 1999 Jeff Barney 79th 321 1999 Adam Dooley T-12th 298 1999 Martin LeMesurier T-62nd 307 1999 James McLean T-23rd 300 1999 Bill Thompson T-51st 305 2000 James McLean T-34th 286 2000 Ben Meyers T-47th 289 2000 Martin LeMesurier T-53rd 291 2000 Wilhelm Schauman T-73rd 297 2000 Dave Gunderson 78th 302 2001 Simon Nash T-13th 286 2001 Wilhelm Schauman M Cut 146 2001 Joe Affrunti M Cut 154 2001 Justin Smith M Cut 154 2001 Ben Meyers M Cut 155 2002 Justin Smith T-4th 279 2002 Matt Anderson T-8th 281 2002 Simon Nash T-51st 289 2002 David Morgan T-74th 292 2002 Wilhelm Schauman T-80th 293 2003 Matt Anderson M Cut 235 2003 David Morgan M Cut 229 2003 Simon Nash M Cut 234 2003 Wilhelm Schauman M Cut 248 2003 Justin Smith M Cut 224

NCAA Championships TEAM FINISHES

Year PLACE SCORE 1939 11th (tie) 633 1942 6th 608 1943 4th 635 1944 2nd 640 1946 9th 645 1947 22nd 623 1952 16th 611 1953 15th 312 1954 13th 607 1955 19th (tie) 614 1956 19th (tie) 629 1957 13th 623 1960 17th (tie) 629 1961 9th 607 1962 9th 620 1963 19th 612 1964 23rd 625 1972 30th 623 (M Cut) 1993 20th (tie) 598 (M Cut) 1998 7th 1137 1999 11th 1208 2000 12th 1149 2001 20th (tie) 593 (M Cut) 2002 1st 1134 2003 19th (tie) 920 (M Cut)

NCAA Awards NCAA Individual Medalist 1944 Louis Lick 1998 James McLean

ALL-AMERICANS* 1944 Louis Lick 1960 Gene Hanson 1961 Rolf Deming 1963 Dave Gumlia 1965 Dave Gumlia 1966 Jim Carlson 1967 Bill Brask 1968 Bill Brask 1970 Dave Haberle 1971 Dave Haberle, Jim Bergeson 1972 Jim Bergeson 1973 Rick Ehrmanntraut, John Harris 1974 John Harris 1979 Tom Lehman 1980 Tom Lehman 1981 Tom Lehman 1993 Joey Gullion 1996 Aaron Barber, Rob Kerr 1998 James McLean 1999 Adam Dooley, Martin LeMesurier, James McLean 2001 Simon Nash, Wilhelm Schauman 2002 Matt Anderson, Justin Smith 2003 Simon Nash, Justin Smith 2004 Justin Smith, Bronson La’Cassie 2005 Bronson La’Cassie

*Awards given by PING and Golf Coaches Association of America

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