UNF men's golf streak of NCAA tournament berths reaches 13 in a row with at-large bid
The University of North Florida men’s golf team is on its baker’s dozen of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
The Ospreys earned their 13th NCAA berth in a row (not counting the COVID year of 2020) and their 14th on the Division I level overall on Wednesday when they learned they will be the eighth seed in the Norman, Okla., regional, at the University of Oklahoma’s Jimmie Austin Golf Club May 15-17.
Texas Tech is the No. 1 seed in Norman, followed by Oklahoma, Alabama and Ole Miss. Wake Forest, Duke and LSU are also ranked ahead of the Ospreys.
UNF is in the tournament as an at-large team after finishing second to Liberty in the ASUN tournament last week. Liberty is the seventh seed in the Bath, Mich., regional.
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The top-five teams in each of the six regionals and the low individual not on the qualifying teams will advance to the NCAA Championship May 26-31 at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Florida, which stunned No. 1-ranked Vanderbilt to win the SEC championship last week, is the No. 2 seed behind Illinois in the Bath, Mich., regional. Florida State is the second seed behind Pepperdine at the Institute Golf Club in Morgan Hill, Calif., near San Jose.
The other No. 1 seeds are Vanderbilt at Auburn, Arizona State at Las Vegas and North Carolina at Salem, S.C.
Short of playing closer to home in Salem or Auburn, it’s a good a scenario as UNF coach Scott Schroeder could have dared hope. UNF finished second in Norman in the 2018 NCAA regionals, earning a berth in the NCAA Championship in nearby Stillwater, Okla.
Even though none of the current players were on that team, Schroeder said he and assistant coach Jeff Dennis will be able to impart a considerable amount of course knowledge – as will former players.
“It’s always good to go somewhere you’ve been before,” Schroeder said after his team watched the selection show together at the UNF Arena’s Bank of England Suite. “The guys on the team know the guys that played there before and they’ll talk to them and Jeff and I will be able to help.”
Travis Trace was the regional medalist in 2018, Dillon Woods tied for seventh and Andrew Alligood tied for 12th as UNF finished only one shot behind winner Oklahoma.
Schroeder said the Norman course was not unlike many tracks his team plays on in Florida: flat and windy.
With more than a week to be before the regional begins, Schroeder said he will stick with the lineup that finished second in the ASUN tournament last week, Nick Gabrelcik, Robbie Higgins, Davis Lee, Cody Carroll and Lance Yates.
UNF reached the NCAA Championship with a tie for third at the New Haven, Conn., regional last year, qualifying out of a regional for the sixth time.
The 14th appearance is by far the most of any UNF athletic team in an NCAA tournament.
“It’s pretty cool,” Schroeder said. “This [streak] keeps getting longer and longer … so you really don’t think about that. I haven’t had a team in a while where it’s like, ‘well, if we have a good year we’ll make the tournament.’ We’ve been fortunate enough that the goal has been higher than just making the tournament.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Oklahoma is OK with North Florida men's golf team in NCAA tournament
