2018 NAIA Men's Golf National Championship Qualifiers Announced
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Championship Information) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the team and individual qualifiers for the 2018 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships. The 67th annual event will take place at TPC Deere Run for the third-straight year in Silvis, Ill., May 15-18.
First and second round pairings and tee times for the championships will be announced Friday at approximately 1 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, one host berth to St. Ambrose University (Iowa) and seven at-large team berths. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches’ Top 25 Poll released today. To access the poll, click HERE.
From an individual standpoint, there were 11 individual qualifiers (nine automatic individual qualifiers and two at-large individual qualifiers). 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. To earn an at-large individual berth, the selection is determined by the NAIA Men’s Golf Championship Committee.
Each day of the national championship will be captured in a video daily recap, available for free on the NAIA Facebook page. Highlights, interviews and more can be seen by 8 p.m. CDT each day.
Qualifier Highlights
- Six programs are appearing in their first-ever NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships: Asbury (Ky.), Jamestown (N.D.), Marymount California, University of Northwestern Ohio, Point (Ga.) and Southeastern (Fla.).
- Eleven qualifiers also participating in the 2017 championships.
- Defending national champion Grand View (Iowa) did not qualify this year. The absence snaps a streak of eight-straight championship appearances.
- Sophomore Rowan Lester of Texas Wesleyan is back after winning the 2017 national trophy with a +3-over par 287 (69-72-72-74) at the 2017 event.
- Five teams in this year’s field have won at least one previous team title: Oklahoma City (10), Texas Wesleyan (6), Coastal Georgia (2), British Columbia (1) and Johnson & Wales (Fla.) (1).
- The Sun Conference leads all of the 19 conferences and unaffiliated teams with five qualifiers: Coastal Georgia, Johnson & Wales, Keiser (Fla.), USC Beaufort (S.C.) and Southeastern. Three other leagues – Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), Sooner Athletic Conference and the Unaffiliated Group (A.I.I. / GSAC / RRAC) send three team qualifiers to the championship.
- Amongst teams that have previously qualified, William Penn (Iowa) is snapping the longest championship drought. The Statesmen last qualified during the 1960 season when they finished sixth at that event.
- Defending runner-up Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) is making the trip to Silvis, Ill., after winning the CCAC Tournament Championship at Deere Run Golf Course by shooting a three-round score of 844 (275-294-275).
- The competition includes eight teams that finished in the top 10 at last year’s championships.
2018 Men’s Golf National Championships Team Qualifiers (listed alphabetically)
| School |
Qualification |
Last Team Appearance^ |
Team Titles |
Individual Titles |
| Asbury (Ky.) |
River States Athletic Tournament Runner-Up |
1st |
|
|
| Bethany (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
2015 (17th) |
|
|
| British Columbia |
At-Large No. 6 |
2017 (12th) |
1 |
|
| Brescia (Ky.) |
River States Athletic Tournament Champion |
2002 (T10th) |
|
|
| Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
2017 (2nd) |
|
|
| Coastal Georgia |
At-Large No. 5 |
2016 (11th) |
2 |
|
| Cumberland (Tenn.) |
Mid-South Tournament Champion |
2009 (16th) |
|
|
| Dalton State (Ga.) |
Southern States Athletic Tournament Champion |
2017 (T4th) |
|
1 |
| Holy Cross (Ind.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Tournament Runner-Up |
2012 (T14th) |
|
|
| Jamestown (N.D.) |
North Star Athletic Tournament Champion |
1st |
|
|
| Johnson & Wales (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 4 |
2017 (T8th) |
1 |
1 |
| Keiser (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 2 |
2017 (T8th) |
|
|
| Marymount California |
California Pacific Tournament Champion |
1st |
|
|
| Northwestern (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Tournament Champion |
2017 (T13th) |
|
|
| Northwestern Ohio, University of |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Tournament Champion |
1st |
|
|
| Oklahoma City |
Sooner Athletic Tournament Champion |
2017 (6th) |
10 |
5 |
| Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
Unaffiliated Group (A.I.I. / GSAC / RRAC) Tournament Champion |
2017 (15th) |
|
|
| Oregon Tech |
Cascade Collegiate Tournament Champion |
2016 (7th) |
|
|
| Point (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Tournament Champion |
1st |
|
|
| Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
Frontier Tournament Champion |
2010 (13th) |
|
|
| Southeastern (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 7 |
1st |
|
|
| St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
Host Berth |
2011 (T12th) |
|
|
| Taylor (Ind.) |
Crossroads League Tournament Champion |
1979 (15th) |
|
|
| Texas Wesleyan |
At-Large No. 3 |
2017 (3rd) |
6 |
11 |
| USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
The Sun Tournament Champion |
2016 (8th) |
|
|
| Victoria (B.C.) |
Unaffiliated Group (A.I.I. / GSAC / RRAC) Tournament Runner-Up |
2016 (T9th) |
|
1 |
| Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
At-Large No. 1 |
2017 (7th) |
|
|
| William Penn (Iowa) |
Heart of America Athletic Tournament Champion |
1960 (16th) |
|
|
| William Woods (Mo.) |
American Midwest Tournament Champion |
2017 (T4th) |
|
|
|
^ Teams that made the final cut at the national championship in a previous year's event
2018 Men’s Golf National Championships Individual Qualifiers (listed alphabetically by last name)
| Name |
School |
Qualification |
| Matt Andrews |
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) |
At-Large |
| Andre Becerra |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
North Star Athletic Individual Medalist |
| Wes Butenbach |
Park (Mo.) |
American Midwest Individual Medalist |
| Ben Kendrick |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
Mid-South Individual Medalist |
| Rasmus Lind |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
At-Large |
| Nick Norton |
Arizona Christian |
Unaffiliated Group (A.I.I./GSAC/RRAC) Individual Medalist |
| Justin Pahl |
Madonna (Mich.) |
2017 National Championship All-Tournament Member (Top 15) |
| Mitch Pfingsten |
Grand View (Iowa) |
2017 National Championship All-Tournament Member (Top 15) |
| Domenick Postorino |
Arizona Christian |
2017 National Championship All-Tournament Member (Top 15) |
| Austin Taylor |
Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) |
River States Individual Medalist |
| Kameron Williams |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Individual Medalist |