Alex Goff to Begin Play at Noblesville NCAA Regional on Monday
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sophomore Kentucky men’s golfer Alex Goff will begin play as an individual participant in the Noblesville, Indiana, NCAA Regional May 17-19. Goff is in search of becoming the highest finisher at his regional among individuals not associated with an advancing team to advance to the National Championship later this month.
Goff paced the Wildcats this season with a 72.28 stroke average, three top-20 finishes, two top-five finishes and a win at The Blessings Collegiate Invitational to open his sophomore campaign.
He will begin play on Monday from the No. 1 tee box at 10:12 a.m. ET. The field will play 54 holes over a three-day span.
The Kings Mountain, North Carolina, native has appeared in 16 career events thus far in his career and has amassed 16 total par-or-better rounds and accounted for the team’s score in 37 of his possible 40 rounds.
In 2020-21, Goff registered a number of career bests. His win at the Blessings was a career-low finish. In a third-place finish at the Legends Collegiate Invitational he tallied a career-low round (64) and a career-low 54-hole score (201). Goff was UK’s top finisher in five of eight events he started, including the Southeastern Conference Championship.
Ball State is hosting the Regional in conjunction with the Hamilton County Sports Authority and The Sagamore Club. Texas is the top seed in Noblesville, while North Carolina, Tennessee and North Florida round out the top four seeds. Those teams are all ranked among the top 20 in the country.
The field also features some of the nation’s top-ranked players, including No. 2 Nick Gabrelcik of North Florida, No. 4 Pierceson Coody of Texas, No. 15 Pontus Nyholm of Campbell and No. 24 Cole Hammer of Texas. Hammer, the Big 12 individual champion, has twice qualified for the U.S. Open — last year at Winged Foot and in 2015 at Chambers Bay where, at age 15, he was the third-youngest ever to compete in the event. Goff is considered the No. 187 player in the country according to the most recent Golfstat rankings.
The Sagamore Club is a par-72, 7,173-yard Jack Nicklaus Signature design. The club previously hosted an NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regional in 2015 with Illinois and SMU sharing the title. Now-major champion Bryson DeChambeau led SMU that year just weeks before winning the individual national championship. Sagamore was also the site of the 2010 NCAA Division II Men’s Golf National Championships.
Sagamore is one of six Regional sites across the country along with The Champions Course in Albuquerque, New Mexico (host New Mexico), Golden Eagle Golf & Country Club in Tallahassee, Florida (host Florida State), Golf Club of Tennessee in King Springs, Tennessee (host Vanderbilt), Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma (host Oklahoma State) and Tumblecreek Golf Club in Cle Elum, Washington (host Washington).
The top five teams from each regional, along with the top individual not associated with one of those teams, will advance to the National Championships, May 28-June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Noblesville Regional Teams (13) – listed in order of seed
(1) Texas, (2) North Carolina, (3) Tennessee, (4) North Florida, (5) Louisville, (6) South Florida, (7) UAB, (8) Duke, (9) UNC Wilmington, (10) Arkansas State, (11) Campbell, (12) UT Martin, (13) Loyola Chicago
Noblesville Regional Individuals (10) – listed in order of seed
(1) Ross Steelman, Missouri; (2) Angus Flanagan, Minnesota; (3) Joe Weiler (Purdue); (4) Mark Goetz, West Virginia; (5) Zack Taylor, Coastal Carolina; (6) Alex Goff, Kentucky; (7) Cole Bradley, Purdue; (8) David Perkins, Illinois State; (9) Michael Cascino, Butler; (10) Henry May, Dayton
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