Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Golf to Compete at NCAA Central Regional
May 16, 2002 | Cowboy Golf
May 16, 2002
SETTING THE SCENE Oklahoma State's golf team will look to earn an unprecedented 56th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship when it travels to Little Rock, Ark., for the NCAA Central Regional this weekend. The Cowboys will play a Wednesday morning practice round before opening the 54-hole event on Thursday morning at 11:15 on the No. 1 tee. OSU's second round will begin on the back nine Friday morning at 7:12. The Cowboys will be paired with TCU and North Carolina State for the first 36 holes of the tournament. The regional field consists of 27 teams, including Big 12 foes Baylor, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, and six individuals. The top 10 teams will advance to the NCAA Championship as well as the top two individuals on non-qualifying teams. Results will be available on the internet at www.golfstat.com.
ABOUT THE COURSE Pleasant Valley Country Club, which opened in 1968, was designed by Joe Finger with the assistance of Jimmy Demeret. The par 72, 7,109-yard layout is serving as the host course for the NCAA Central Regional for the first time since regional play began in 1989.
LAST TIME OUT The Cowboys won their second tournament of the 2001-02 season, posting a four-stoke victory over Houston at The Maxwell in Ardmore, Okla. OSU's 54-hole, 13-over total of 853 gave the squad its first victory since winning the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate last October and marked the fourth time in the 11-year history of The Maxwell that the Cowboys have emerged victorious.
IN THE RANKINGS The Cowboys enter this week's tournament ranked No. 6 in both the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and the GCAA/Precept Coaches Poll. Individually, sophomore Hunter Mahan leads squad with a No. 4 national ranking, while Anders Hultman is the only other Cowboy in the top 50, checking in at No. 26.
OSU IN REGIONAL ACTION Since 1989, the Cowboys have claimed three regional titles (1989, 1990 and 1997) and have produced four individual champions; Kevin Wentworth (1989, 1990), Alan Bratton (1995) and Bo Van Pelt (1997). Last season, Karsten Creek, the home of Cowboy Golf, served as host to the Central Regional. OSU's sixth-place finish was its lowest since tying for seventh in 1998. Then-freshman P?r Nilsson paced the Cowboys, finishing in a tie for 13th after posting a two-over 218 total.
