KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the qualifiers for the 2014 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships. The 63rd annual event will take place at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., May 13 – 16. First and second round pairings for the championships will be announced Friday by 3 p.m. CDT on www.NAIA.org.
The 156-player field consists of 22 automatic qualifying teams, which won or finished runner-up in their respective conference, independent or unaffiliated group tournament, six at-large berths, Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (host berth) and 11 individual qualifiers. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches’ Top 25 Poll released earlier today.
Two-time defending national champion Oklahoma City highlights a field that includes seven teams that finished in the top 10 at last year’s championships. The Stars, who never trailed during last year’s event en route to an unprecedented 28-stroke victory, were the first team to repeat as national champions since winning back-to-back crowns in 2006 and 2007. In total, Oklahoma City, which earned an at-large berth into this year’s championships field, owns an NAIA-best nine men’s golf championships.
Brothers James Marchesani and Anthony Marchesani headline the individuals for the Stars. James, who finished tied for seventh at last year’s national championship with a 2-over 290 (72-75-69-74), captured the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament individual title – his fourth victory of the season – with an 8-under 205 (67-71-67) at the Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas. Anthony took third at the league championships with a 209 (72-68-69) and was sixth overall at the 2013 national championships.
The other returning top 10 teams are: Bellevue (Neb.), Cal State San Marcos, Faulkner (Ala.), Grand View (Iowa), Johnson & Wales (Fla.) and Texas Wesleyan.
In addition to Oklahoma City’s nine national titles, three qualifying teams have claimed at least one red banner, led by Texas Wesleyan’s six championships. The Rams most recent crown came at the PGA National in Palm Gardens, Fla., in 1999. British Columbia (2008) and Johnson & Wales (2005) are the other two.
The 11 individual qualifiers include 10 automatic selections and one at-large. To receive an individual automatic berth, a player must win his respective conference tournament or be an All-Tournament Team honoree from the previous year’s national championships that did not qualify otherwise.
Southeastern’s (Fla.) Kyle Martin was selected by the national championship tournament committee and the at-large individual to fill out the field of 156. The senior participated at last year’s championship, but missed the cut.
For more information on the 2014 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships, click here.
2014 Men’s Golf National Championships Team Qualifiers (listed alphabetical)
|
School |
Qualification |
|
Bellevue (Neb.) |
Unaffiliated Group (MCAC/North Star) Tournament Champion |
|
Bethany (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
British Columbia |
Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion |
|
Cal State San Marcos |
At-Large No. 3 |
|
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
|
Coastal Georgia |
Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
|
Concordia (Ore.) |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Culver-Stockton (Mo.) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) |
California Pacific Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
Championship Host Berth |
|
Faulkner (Ala.) |
Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Grand View (Iowa) |
Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Indiana Wesleyan |
Crossroads League Tournament Champion |
|
Johnson & Wales (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 4 |
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Madonna (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Midland (Neb.) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Oklahoma Baptist |
At-Large No. 5 |
|
Oklahoma City |
At-Large No. 1 |
|
Point Park (Pa.) |
Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
St. Thomas (Texas) |
Unaffiliated Group (GSAC/GCAC/RRAC) Tournament Champion |
|
Tennessee Wesleyan |
Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Texas Wesleyan |
At-Large No. 2 |
|
Thomas (Ga.) |
The Sun Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Webber International (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 6 |
|
Westminster (Utah) |
Frontier Conference Tournament Champion |
|
William Woods (Mo.) |
American Midwest Conference Tournament Champion |
2014 Men’s Golf National Championships Individual Qualifiers (listed alphabetical by school)
|
Individual |
Qualification |
|
Connor Hausauer, Carroll (Mont.) |
Frontier Conference Individual Medalist |
|
Michal Pospisil, Cumberlands (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference Individual Medalist |
|
Jorge Benitez, Davenport (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
|
Jonas Christensen, Doane (Neb.) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
|
Matthew Code, Holy Cross (Ind.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
|
Joey Smart, IU East (Ind.) |
Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
|
Charlie Phillips, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) |
Crossroads League Individual Medalist |
|
Tyler Falk, Northwest Christian (Ore.) |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Individual Medalist |
|
Kyle Martin, Southeastern (Fla.) |
At-Large Individual |
|
Seth Bryan, Southwestern (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
|
Matthew Latham, St. Andrews (N.C.) |
Individual Automatic – 2013 All-Tournament Team Member |