2015 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championship Qualifiers Announced

5/7/2015 4:42:37 PM

Link to the article: http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=210076959

By Mike DeVader, NAIA Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the qualifiers for the 2015 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships. The 64^th annual event will take place at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., May 19-22.
First and second round pairings for the championships will be announced Friday by 5 p.m. CDT on www.NAIA.org.
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.
At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches’ Top 25 Poll released earlier today.
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.)
In addition to Oklahoma City’s nine national titles, six qualifying teams have claimed at least one red banner, led by Texas Wesleyan’s six championships. Five participating institutions hold one championship apiece.
The 11 individual qualifiers include seven automatic selections, three at-large selections and a repeat invitee (Le). 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.
Individually, Kade Crossland of Corban (Ore.), Zach Day of Mobile (Ala.) and Stone Cowie of Thomas (Ga.) were selected by the national championship tournament committee as the at-large individuals to fill out the field of 156.
For more information on the 2015 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships, click here. 
2015 Men’s Golf National Championships Team Qualifiers (listed alphabetical)

School	Qualification
Bellevue (Neb.)	Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
Bethany (Kan.)	Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
British Columbia	At-Large No. 2
Cal State San Marcos	Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)	Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
Coastal Georgia	At-Large No. 1
Concordia (Ore.)	Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion
Culver-Stockton (Mo.)	Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
Dalton State (Ga.)	Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
Davenport (Mich.)	Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
Embry-Riddle (Fla.)	Host Berth
Grand View (Iowa)	Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion
Jamestown (N.D.)	Unaffiliated Group - GCAC/North Star Tournament Champion
Johnson & Wales (Fla.)	The Sun Conference Tournament Champion
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	Frontier Conference Tournament Championship
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion
Marian (Ind.)	Crossroads League Tournament Champions
Northwestern (Iowa)	Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
Oklahoma City	Unaffiliated Group - RRAC/SAC Tournament Champion
Point Park (Pa.)	Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
St. Francis (Ill.)	Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up
Tennessee Wesleyan	Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
Texas Wesleyan	At-Large No. 4
The Master's (Calif.)	Unaffiliated Group - Cal Pac/GSAC Tournament Champion
USC Beaufort (S.C.)	At-Large No. 5
Victoria (B.C.)	At-Large No. 6
Wayland Baptist (Texas)	At-Large No. 3
Webber International (Fla.)	At-Large No. 7
William Woods (Mo.)	American Midwest Conference Tournament Champion

2015 Men’s Golf National Championships Individual Qualifiers (listed alphabetical by school)

Individual	Qualification
Will McKenzie, Brescia (Ky.)	Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist
Kade Crossland, Corban (Ore.)	At-Large No. 2
Guido Vidotto, Edward Waters (Fla.)	Unaffiliated Group - GCAC/North Star Individual Medalist
Matt Zampello, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)	Unaffiliated Group - Cal Pac/GSAC Individual Medalist
Jake Coffey, Indiana Wesleyan	Crossroads League Individual Medalist
Zach Day, Mobile (Ala.)	At-Large No. 1
Zach Oliver, Oklahoma Baptist	Unaffiliated Group - RRAC/SAC Individual Medalist
Daniel Thompsett, Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	Frontier Conference Individual Medalist
Seth Bryan, Southwestern (Kan.)	Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist
Richard Le, St. Thomas (Texas)	2014 National Championships Top-15 Finisher
Stone Cowie, Thomas (Ga.)	At-Large No. 3