Kent State University
NCAA Championships
No. 11 Men's Golf Seeks Title at NCAA National Championship
5/24/2017 1:50:00 PM | Men's Golf
KENT, Ohio. – The No. 11 Kent State University men's golf team will look to reach the pinnacle of collegiate golf, as the Flashes enter the 2017 NCAA National Championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
The Golden Flashes are set to compete from May 26-31.The tournament format includes 30 teams competing over the first three rounds of stroke play from Friday to Sunday. The field is reduced to 15 teams for the final round of stroke play Monday, after which the NCAA will crown an individual medalist. On Tuesday, the top eight teams will compete in match play quarter and semifinals. Finally, the remaining two teams will compete Wednesday for the NCAA National Championship. The Golf Channel will broadcast the final three days of competition.
All 30 teams in the field competed in six separate regional tournaments. Every team finished in the top-5 to earn their spot in the final dance. The entire field is as follows, in order of Golfstat ranking:
| No. 1 Southern California | No. 2 Oklahoma State | No. 3 Vanderbilt |
| No. 4 Stanford | No. 5 Baylor | No. 6 LSU |
| No. 8 Illinois | No. 9 Oregon | No. 11 Kent State |
| No. 14 Texas | No. 15 Clemson | No. 16 UNLV |
| No. 17 Oklahoma | No. 18 Virginia | No. 19 Duke |
| No. 20 Auburn | No. 22 Ole Miss | No. 23 Pepperdine |
| No. 24 Arizona State | No. 25 Florida State | No. 27 North Carolina |
| No. 31 Alabama | No. 32 Lipscomb | No. 36 Kennesaw State |
| No. 37 Purdue | No. 39 Jacksonville | No. 42 New Mexico |
| No. 44 Iowa State | No. 47 Central Florida | No. 48 Penn State |
The Flashes will bring their five top ranked golfers to Rich Harvest Farms, all of which are in the national top-200. The lineup is stacked from top to bottom and features 2016 MAC Player of the Year Chase Johnson, 2017 MAC Player of the Year Ian Holt and 2017 MAC Individual Champion Gisli Sveinbergsson. The lineup is rounded out by Josh Whalen and and Bjarki Petursson, who carry three tournament championships combined this year. All five golfers were honored this year on the All-MAC First Team, a feat never accomplished by a MAC program before.
Kent State will be making its 18th trip to the NCAA National Championship and first since 2013. The Flashes will be looking to top their previous best finish at Nationals from 2012, when the Flashes advanced to the quarterfinals of match play. That year, Kent State was the eighth seed and fell to the national runners up in Alabama. Corey Conners finished fourth as an individual in 2012.
Live scoring will be available throughout the tournament, while the Golf Channel will pick up the action in round four. Be sure to follow @KentStGolf for updates throughout the tournament, including photos and video from the course.
Players Mentioned
