By Spencer Scheve, Athletic Communications and Media Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the qualifiers for the 2017 NAIA Men's Golf National Championships. The 66th annual event will take place at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., May 16-19.
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, eight at-large berths and eight 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. Click here to view the Top 25 Poll.
After winning its third title in the past five years and 10th overall, Oklahoma City highlights the field with two returning first team All-Americans Rupert Kaminski and Matthew Cheung. Kaminski and Cheung each rank in the top 10 in multiple statistical categories this season including – average score, par-four scoring, par-five scoring, eagles and birdies.
British Columbia, the 2016 national runner-up, is back in the field after defending its Association of Independent Institutions tournament title with a six-stroke win at The Brassie in Chester, Ind., on May 1-2.
The competition includes seven teams that finished in the top 10 at last year's championships: Oklahoma City (No. 1), British Columbia (No. 2), William Woods (Mo.) (No. 3), Texas Wesleyan (No. 4), Johnson & Wales (Fla.) (No. 5), Wayland Baptist (Texas) (No. 6) and USC Beaufort (S.C.) (No. 8).
In addition to Oklahoma City's ten national titles, four other 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 11 individual qualifiers include seven automatic selections, two at-large individuals and two 2016 all-tournament invitees. 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 2017 NAIA Men's Golf National Championships, click here.
2017 Men's Golf National Championships Team Qualifiers (listed alphabetically)
| School |
Qualification |
| Arizona Christian |
At-Large No. 7 |
| Bellevue (Neb.) |
North Star Athletic Association Tournament Champion |
| British Columbia |
Association of Independents Tournament Champion |
| Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Coastal Georgia |
At-Large No. 8 |
| Cumberland (Tenn.) |
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. 2 |
| Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
Frontier Conference Tournament Champion |
| Madonna (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Northwest Christian (Ore.) |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion |
| Northwestern (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Oklahoma City |
Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
Gulf Coast Athletic Conference/Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Point (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Point Park (Pa.) |
River States Conference Tournament Champion |
| Southeastern (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 4 |
| St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
| Taylor (Ind.) |
Crossroads League Tournament Champion |
| Texas Wesleyan |
At-Large No. 1 |
| The Master's (Calif.) |
Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
At-Large No. 5 |
| Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
At-Large No. 3 |
| William Jessup (Calif.) |
At-Large No. 6 |
| William Woods (Mo.) |
American Midwest Conference Tournament Champion |
2017 Men's Golf National Championships Individual Qualifiers (listed alphabetically by school)
| Joe Hurn, St. Andrews (N.C.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference Medalist |
| Lawren Rowe, Victoria (B.C.) |
2016 All-Tournament |
| Joey Medora, Holy Cross (Ind.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Medalist |
| Jake Coffey, Indiana Wesleyan |
Crossroads League Medalist |
| Corey Matthew, Morningside (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Medalist |
| Sergio Garcia, Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
2016 All-Tournament |
| Brian Peck, Southwestern (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Medalist |
| Matt McCurry, Asbury (Ky.) |
River State Conference Medalist |
| Ben Kendrick, Cumberlands (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference Medalist |
| Rasmus Lind, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
At-Large Selection |
| Montana Frame, Oregon Tech |
At-Large Selection |