INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Fourteen teams, including the host University of New Mexico, were selected to compete at the Albuquerque Regional, one of six sites for the 2016 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships.
There are six regional hosts (New Mexico, Alabama, Arizona, Marquette, Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt) that will conduct tournaments May 16-18. The low five teams and the low individual not on one those teams from each of the six regionals will advance to the finals. The NCAA Championship finals for team and medalist titles will be decided May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Oregon, with the University of Oregon serving as the host school.
The Albuquerque Regional will be contested at the UNM South Championship Course, designed by Robert (Red) Lawrence. The 7,5620yard course was built in 1967 and features blue and rye grass in the fairways and a mix of Bent and Poa Annua grass on the greens. The course was the site of the NCAA Men’s National Championships in 1976, 1992 and 1998 for the NCAA Women’s National Championships in 1987 and 2008. The course will host a 2017 women’s NCAA regional as well.
Among the many honors the course has earned include:
*Golf Week Best Courses You Can Play State-by-State, #7, 2015
*Golf Week Best Golf Courses, Campus Courses, #21, 2014
*Best Public Golf Course in New Mexico, #5, Golf.com, 2014
*”Top 40 Daily Fee Courses in America” Golf & Travel Magazine, 2000-01
*”A four-star award in Places to Play” Golf Digest Magazine, 2000-01
*”Fourth Best Course in New Mexico” Golf Digest Magazine, 2001
*”#1 College Course Open to Non-members” New England Financial Journal, 1999
*”Top 100 Courses You Can Play” Golf Magazine, 1996, 1998-99
*”America’s Best Public Golf Courses, Top 25″ Golf Digest, 1988
The top two seeds for the regional are at-large selections from the Pac-12 in USC and Arizona State. USC is ranked 10th in the latest Golfweek rankings, and Arizona State is 18th. The number three seed South Florida, the winner of the American Athletic Conference, is ranked 11th. San Diego State and Texas A&M, which round of the top five seeds, are ranked 23rd and 27th respectively.
The Lobos will be playing on their home course, and that portends well for them, as New Mexico has won its home tournament, the William Tucker Intercollegiate, in each of the last four years, including a 19-stroke win this year against three of the other teams in the field, Texas Tech, TCU and San Diego State.
For more information on the UNM South Championship Course, go to http://unmgolf.com/championship_course/
| Seeds | Teams |
| 1. | University of Southern California |
| 2. | Arizona State University |
| 3. | University of South Florida [American Athletic Conference] |
| 4. | San Diego State University |
| 5. | Texas A&M University, College Station |
| 6. | North Carolina State University |
| 7. | University of New Mexico |
| 8. | Texas Tech University |
| 9. | Texas Christian University |
| 10. | University of Iowa |
| 11. | Liberty University [Big South Conference] |
| 12. | U.S. Military Academy [Patriot League] |
| 13. | Cleveland State University [Horizon League] |
| 14. | Wagner College [Northeast Conference] |
| Individuals | |
| 1. | Hayden Shieh, Santa Clara University |
| 2. | Patrick Fishburn, Brigham Young University |
| 3. | Frederik Dreier, University of Texas at El Paso |
| 4. | Trevor Clayton, California State University, Fresno |
| 5. | Nicholas Dilio, Saint Peter’s University |