Men's Golf Advances to NCAA Championships

Thursday, May 18

Orlando, Fla.

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Texas Tech Athletics

NCAA Regional

Texas Tech head men's golf coach Greg Sands has guided the Red Raiders to their sixth NCAA Championships appearance in school history and second in his tenure.

Men's Golf Advances to NCAA Championships

May 20, 2006 | Men's Golf

May 20, 2006

LUBBOCK, Texas - Behind what head coach Greg Sands called "a total team effort," the No. 19 Texas Tech Red Raider men's golf team finished third at the NCAA East Regional in Orlando, Fla., Saturday and advance to the NCAA Championships for the sixth time in school history and second under Sands. The Red Raiders will continue their season May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.

The Red Raiders' finish is the highest for a Tech team in an NCAA Regional and is high enough for the team to advance to the championships in two weeks. The top 10 teams from each of the three regionals advance. Texas Tech's appearance in in the championships will mark the sixth time in school history that the program has qualified for the event. The 1956 team was the first to qualify, followed by teams in 1959, 1960, 1976 and 2002. The 1959 squad posted the program's highest finish in the championships at seventh place.

"This was a pretty balanced effort, a total team effort," Sands said. "This was the hardest region to win with Georgia being the top-ranked team in the country, but we felt like we could play with anyone, and we did. This was the best all-around team effort we have had all year. We never really had anyone we counted out early. We didn't know which score we would throw out until the end of each round.

"We had two true freshmen and one redshirt freshman do very well at this event and help lead us to the championships," Sands added. "Performing as well as they did in their first regional is a testament to the guts they have."

Junior Oscar Floren and senior Andrew Dresser shot even par 72s in the final round to lead the Red Raiders, while true freshman Brandon Lakatta turned in a 73. Floren, the nation's 11th-ranked golfer, finished in a fifth-place tie and was 3-under for the event and Dresser closed the event in a 14th-place tie at two-over. Lakatta, one of three freshmen in the Tech lineup, finished in a 44th place tie. Santiago Rivas fired a 74 in the final round to finish in a tie for 36th, while Jake Younan-Wise posted a 78 and finished tied for 59th.

Wake Forest, the No. 21 team in the country, shot even par over the three rounds and won by a stroke over No. 1 Georgia. The Red Raiders finished eight shots back in third and one ahead of fourth-place and 13th-ranked North Carolina. No. 23 Charlotte and No. 25 Coastal Carolina tied for fifth place, while No. 6 UCLA, Auburn, South Carolina and No. 7 UNLV rounded out the top 10, respectively, and qualified for the championships.

UCLA's Kevin Chappell entered the event as the 175th-ranked played in the country, but shot a 5-under 211 to win medalist honors. Dustin Johnson of Coastal Carolina, Jared Texter of UNLV and Taylor Wood of Southern California tied for second. Wood entered the final round with the lead, but shot a 73 in the final round to fall out of first place. Kyle Reifers of Wake Forest and Brendon Todd of Georgia tied with Floren in fifth place.

Sands added that the team will need to step it up for a chance at a national championship, especially on the greens.

"We need to make more putts," Sands said. "We putt better during regionals and we win. We need our putters to get hot next week. Somebody out there will hit a hot streak and play well. If we want to win, we have to get hot.

"There are probably 20 teams that could win an NCAA championship. If we can put it together for one week, we have a chance."

For complete regional results, log-on to www.golfstat.com.

TEXAS TECHOscar Floren  T5  71-70-72-213 (-3)Andrew Dresser  T14 73-73-72-218 (+2)Santiago Rivas  T36 72-76-74-222 (+6)Brandon Lakatta    T44 74-76-73-223 (+7)Jake Younan-Wise   T59 73-74-78-225 (+9)