Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Golf Prepares for NCAA Championships
May 29, 2006 | Men's Golf
May 29, 2006
SUNRIVER, Ore. - For the sixth time in program history, the Texas Tech men's golf team will tee off at with a national championship on the line when the seventh-seeded Red Raiders will open play at the 109th NCAA Men's Golf Championships. The event will begin on Wednesday at the 72-par, 7630-yeard Crosswater Glub Club with the first round of the four-day event.
After playing two practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday, the Red Raiders will kick off the tournament with a 1:29 p.m. tee time in the first round where they will be paired with No. 8 seed Georgia Tech and No. 9 seed North Carolina.
The young Texas Tech team, which features three freshman, is coming off its highest ever finish at a NCAA Regional, as the team turned in a third place finish at the NCAA East Regional at Laka Nona Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The Red Raiders also entered the event as the field's seventh seed. The team also posted a program high finish at the 2006 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship as they ended the event in fourth place.
Senior Andrew Dresser and junior Oscar Floren have been the team's leaders all season and have gained national recognition with their outstanding play. Dresser, a finalist for the Bryon Nelson Award, given annually to the nation's top senior golfer, posted his first career win in March at the Hyatt Plantation Club Intercollegiate and posted the highest finish by a Red Raider at the 2006 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship, finishing in a tie for fourth. The Carrollton, Texas, native is currently second on the team with an average score of 72.03. Floren has been Tech's most decorated golfer this season after he began the season with an appearance at last summer's British Open. The Ljungskile, Sweden, native leads the team with a 71.31 scoring average this season and has tied a single-season school record with three tournament wins this season after taking medalist honors at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, the Hyatt Plantation Club Intercollegiate and the 2006 Aggie Invitational.
In addition to the great leadership that has been provided by the team's upperclassmen, much of the success of the Red Raiders run this season is due to the team's outstanding freshman class. First-year contributors Jake Younan-Wise, Santiago Rivas and Brandon Lakatta have combined to be rated sixth on the Freshman Class Impact Ranking by Golfstat.
Live Results from the 2006 NCAA Men's Golf Championship are available on www.golfstat.com.
