UK Men’s Golf Selected for 2016 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s golf team was selected to the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship for the ninth time in the Brian Craig era on Thursday morning, as the Wildcats made the field of 81 teams and will compete in the Tuscaloosa Regional at the Ol’ Colony Golf Complex in Tuscaloosa, Ala., May 16-18.

“We love going to the Regional in Tuscaloosa,” Craig said. “It’s a perfect place to go because it has an SEC flavor with the location and the teams in the field. Let’s go compete and have some fun.”

The 13-team regional features four other teams from the Southeastern Conference, including the host Crimson Tide, Georgia, Auburn and South Carolina. The remainder of the field includes UNLV, Kansas, Charleston, Lipscomb, Charleston Southern, Colorado, Harvard and Southern Illinois. 

Kentucky is coming off a seventh-place finish at the 2016 SEC Championship held at St. Simons Island, Ga. Sophomore Tyler “Chip” McDaniel earned runner-up status with a 1-under par, 209, marking his sixth top-five finish of the season. He earned All-SEC status en route to leading UK to its best finish at the SEC Championship since 2012. 

Sophomore Cooper Musselman and junior Stephen Stallings tied for 25th and both earned the best finishes of their careers at the league championship. Musselman led the team in three of the five spring tournaments, highlighted by a top-10 finish at the Schenkel Invitational. Stallings owns the distinction of having the team’s lowest round of the year when he shot a career-low 65 in the second round of the Schenkel Invitational. 

Senior David Snyder joins McDaniel and Stallings as the only players to suit up for all nine of UK’s tournaments this season. He owns a 74.12 stroke average during his final season. 

The field for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships consists of 81 qualifying schools, which includes 31 conference automatic qualifiers, 50 teams selected at-large and 45 individuals not on those teams.  

Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 16-18.  Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams.  

The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals to be played May 27 to June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

The six regional championship sites include Ol’ Colony Golf Complex in Tuscaloosa, Ala., hosted by the University of Alabama; Gallery Golf Club, Marana, Ariz., hosted by the University of Arizona; Blackwolf Run Meadow Valleys Course, Kohler, Wis., hosted by Marquette University; Championship Course at University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M., hosted by the University of New Mexico; Karsten Creek Golf Club, Stillwater, Okla., hosted by Oklahoma State University; and Vanderbilt Legends Club, Franklin, Tenn., hosted by Vanderbilt University.

This marks the ninth postseason regional appearance for Kentucky under the direction of Craig. The Wildcats placed fourth in 2014, 10th in 2013, ninth in 2009, 17th in 2008, 10th in 2006, fourth in 2005, first in 2004 and sixth in 2003.

For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow @UKMensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.