2016 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championship Qualifiers Announced
By Scott Barker, NAIA Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the qualifiers for the 2016 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships. The 65th annual event will take place at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., May 24-27.
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 20 automatic qualifying teams, which won or finished runner-up in their respective conference, independent or unaffiliated group tournament, 10 at-large berths and seven individual qualifiers. Stone Cowie of Thomas (Ga.) 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.
Two-time defending national champion Coastal Georgia highlights the talented field. A year ago, the Mariners claimed its second national title in school history with a 7-under-par 1,145, 11 shots ahead of William Woods (Mo.) (4-over-par).
William Woods, the 2015 national runner-up, is back in the field after claiming the American Midwest Conference tournament title with a 41-shot win at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Giradeau, Mo., on May 2-3.
The competition includes nine teams that finished in the top 10 at last year’s championships: Coastal Georgia (No. 1), William Woods (No. 2), Johnson & Wales (Fla.) (No. 3), USC Beaufort (S.C.) (No. 4), Wayland Baptist (Texas) (No. 5), Texas Wesleyan (No. 6), British Columbia (tied for eighth), Oklahoma City (tied for eighth) and Webber International (No. 10).
In addition to Oklahoma City’s nine national titles, four qualifying teams have claimed at least one red banner, including Texas Wesleyan’s six championships. Coastal Georgia owns two titles, while British Columbia and Johnson & Wales have one apiece.
The six individual qualifiers include five automatic selections and a repeat invitee. 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.
For more information on the 2016 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships, click
here.
2016 Men’s Golf National Championships Team Qualifiers (listed alphabetically)
| School |
Qualification |
| Bellevue (Neb.) |
North Star Athletic Association tournament champion |
| Brescia (Ky.) |
Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| British Columbia |
Association of Independent Institutions tournament champion |
| Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| Coastal Georgia |
At-Large No. 1 |
| Cumberlands (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference tournament champion |
| Dalton State (Ga.) |
Southern States Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) |
California Pacific Conference tournament champion |
| Grand View (Iowa) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| Johnson & Wales (Fla.) |
The Sun Conference tournament champion |
| Keiser (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 3 |
| Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
Frontier Conference tournament champion |
| Marian (Ind.) |
At-Large No. 10 |
| Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
At-Large No. 8 |
| Northwestern (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| Northwestern Ohio |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| Oklahoma City |
Unaffiliated Group - Sooner Athletic Conference/Red River Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| Oregon Tech |
Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament champion |
| Reinhardt (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| Southeastern (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 5 |
| St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament runner-up |
| Taylor (Ind.) |
Crossroads League tournament champion |
| Texas Wesleyan |
At-Large No. 4 |
| The Master's (Calif.) |
Golden State Athletic Conference tournament champion |
| USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
At-Large No. 9 |
| Victoria (B.C.) |
At-Large No. 6 |
| Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
At-Large No. 2 |
| Webber International (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 7 |
| William Woods (Mo.) |
American Midwest Conference tournament champion |
2016 Men’s Golf National Championships Individual Qualifiers (listed alphabetically by school)
| Taylor Suggs, Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) |
Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Individual Medalist |
| Dathan Terry, Indiana Tech |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Individual Medalist |
| Renen Sahr, Midland (Neb.) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Individual Medalist |
| Josh Gains, Northwest Christian (Ore.) |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Individual Medalist |
| Evan Ball, Tennessee Wesleyan |
Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Individual Medalist |
| Stone Cowie, Thomas (Ga.) |
2015 National Championships Top-15 Finisher |