UVic And UBC Men Ready To Tee Of At NAIA Nat'l Championships In Daytona

2015 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships Pairings Announced (May 8) - National championships play opens at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19

By Mike DeVader, NAIA Communications & Sports Information Intern

KANSAS CITY Mo. – (First Round) | (Second Round)

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the first and second round pairings for the 2015 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. The 64th annual event will take place May 19-22.

First round play gets underway on May 19 at 7:30 a.m. EDT with defending national champion Coastal Georgia, along with Victoria (B.C.) and Marian (Ind.) starting on hole No. 1.

Beginning the day on No. 10 at 7:50 a.m. will be Zach Day of Mobile (Ala.), Kade Crossland of Corban (Ore.) and Daniel Thompsett of Rocky Mountain (Mont.). UBC's men are off the 10th tee at 9 a.m.

Day one’s afternoon action starts at 12 p.m., as Wayland Baptist (Texas), Tennessee Wesleyan and Northwestern (Iowa) tee off on the front-nine. USC Beaufort (S.C), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and Jamestown (N.D.) open their championships on the back-nine at 12:30 p.m.

The start times flip on day two with USC Beaufort, Lindsey Wilson and Jamestown teeing off on No. 1 at 7:50 a.m., while Wayland Baptist, Tennessee Wesleyan and Northwestern are off of No. 10 at 7:30 a.m.

Coastal Georgia, Victoria and Marian start their second rounds at Noon off of No. 10. Day, Crossland and Thompsett swing off the first tee at 12:30.
UBC will start on number 1 tee at 1:40 p.m. on day two. 

The UVic Vikes and UBC T'Birds both received at-large berths to the tournament, after finishing 4th and T2nd respecively at the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) conference championship last month in Victoria, Texas. UBC is ranked fifth in the final NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Top 25 Poll, going into the tournament, while UVic is ranked 12th

The 156-player field consists of 21 automatic qualifying teams, which won or finished runner-up in their respective conference, independent or unaffiliated group tournament, seven at-large berths, Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (host berth) and seven individual qualifiers.

Richard Le of St. Thomas (Texas) was invited into the field following his top-15 finish in last year’s national championships. Le hits the course for his first round at 1:20 p.m. on May 19.

Defending national champion Coastal Georgia highlights the talented field. A year ago, the Mariners became the 30th different team in NAIA history to claim the red banner in the 63-year history of the event with a 1-over-par 865, four shots ahead of Oklahoma City (5-over-par).

The No. 1-ranked squad overcame a six-stroke deficit last year in the final round with a 4-under-par 284 – the only team under par in the final round – to earn the crown.

Oklahoma City, the 2014 national runner-up, is back in the field after claiming the unaffiliated grouping (RRAC/SAC) tournament title with a seven-shot win at Twin Hills Golf & Country Club in Oklahoma City, Okla., on April 20-21.

The Stars are looking for their third title in four seasons.

The competition includes eight teams that finished in the top 10 at last year’s championships, including the entire top five finishing schools. The other top 10 returning programs are: Concordia (Ore.), Grand View (Iowa), Johnson & Wales (Fla.), Tennessee Wesleyan, Texas Wesleyan and William Woods (Mo.).

For additional information on the 2015 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships, click here.