Tom Whitney Heads to San Diego for NCAA Regional
5/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 18, 2010
Air Force senior Tom Whitney will compete at the 2010 NCAA Men's Golf Regional Championship in Santee, Calif., this week, May 20-22. The regional, hosted by San Diego State, is being played at the par-72, 7,360-yard Carlton Oaks Golf Course.
The regional is a 54-hole tournament, with a single round of 18 holes played each day. Whitney, competing in an NCAA Regional for the second-straight season, will tee off from hole 1 at 10:20 a.m. (PT) on Thursday for the first round of action. Live stats for all rounds will be available at golfstat.com.
About the NCAA Regionals...
This year's regionals are being held at six separate sites around the country. Three of the regional sites, including Carlton Oaks, will feature 13 teams and 10 individuals not on a qualifying team. Meanwhile, the three remaining sites will host 14 teams and five individuals not on a qualifying team.
The Field...
The 13-team field at the San Diego regiona is led by second-ranked Oregon. Mountain West rival UNLV, ranked 15th in the nation is seeded second, followed by No. 6 Augusta State with the third seed. Other teams slated to compete at Carlton Oaks include Tennessee, host San Diego State, California, Chattanooga, Central Florida, Arizona, UC Irvine, Missouri, New Mexico State and Oral Roberts.
Meanwhile, Air Force's Tom Whitney is the top-seeded individual in the region, followed by Santa Clara's Scott Travers and Nate Barbee of Kansas. Rounding out the group of individual competitors in San Diego are Nick Delio (Cal State Northridge), Lloyd du Preez (Arkansas State), Zack Fischer (Texas-Arlington), Pierre-Alexis Rolland (Lamar), Justin Bardgett (Colorado), Jared Becher (Nevada) and Paul Apyan (Southern Mississippi).
Last Year at the NCAA Regional...
Tom Whitney finished 27th at the NCAA South Central Regional at Karsten Creek last season. Whitney, who entered the regional championship as the third-seeded individual, carded a three-round total of 229 (+13).
Last Time Out...
The Air Force golf team posted its best-ever MWC finish at this year's championship, placing sixth overall with a three-round score of 887. Sophomore Robert Belz led the way for the Falcons, tying for 19th place in the individual standings at 217 (+4). Freshman Andrew Hoops was next in the standings in a tie for 26th place, followed by Tom Whitney, Caleb Leestma and Kyle Bailey.
In the Rankings...
According to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin ratings (updated May 9), senior Tom Whitney is ranked among the top 100 collegiate golfers, coming in at No. 85 He is also ranked 38th in the Golfstat Cup Standings. Meanwhile, his season stroke average of 71.41 is the third-best in the Mountain West Conference.
All-MWC...
For the second-straight season, senior Tom Whitney has been named an All-Mountain West Conference selection. He is the third Air Force golfer to earn all-conference honors during the MWC's 11-year history and the second two-time honoree for the Falcons.
Whitney, who is the Falcons' school record holder in numerous categories including lowest 18-hole, 36-hole and 54-hole tournament scores, recorded five top-three finishes and seven top-five finishes during the 2009-10 season, including a win at the Triumph at Pauma Valley in mid-March. He currently holds a season stroke average of 71.4, which is on pace to break the school record of 72.0, which he set during the 2008-09 season.
Up Next...
At the conclusion of each regional competition, the top five teams and top individual not on an advancing team will move on to the championship finals, which will be held June 1-6 at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn.
