Texas Tech University Athletics
Friday, May 28
Scottsdale, Arizona
Texas Tech Athletics
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NCAA Championship
PREVIEW: NCAA Men's Golf Championship
May 25, 2021 | Men's Golf
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech will begin its quest to win the 2021 NCAA Men's Golf Championship this weekend with Ludvig Aberg, Kyle Hogan, Garrett Martin, Andy Lopez and Baard Skogen set to represent and compete at the Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor Course in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Tech starts the tournament with the first tee time of the championship at 6:32 a.m. (PST) on Friday in a pairing with No. 23 Arkansas and No. 25 San Diego State. The Red Raiders, who advanced to the program's 13th national tournament by winning the NCAA Albuquerque Regional, begin their second round at 11:52 a.m. (PST) on Saturday before Sunday's tee times are determined by scoring in the 30-team event.
"We've played a tough schedule this season for a reason," said Texas Tech head coach Greg Sands who is in his 20th season leading the program and making his ninth NCAA Championship appearance. "We've played a lot of these teams this year. We know and have beaten these guys. It's just a matter of having a good week."
The NCAA Men's Golf Championships consist of three days of stroke play on Friday thru Sunday (54 holes) with the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team moving on. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play on Monday to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, followed by the finals on Wednesday. The Golf Channel will broadcast the individual championship round on Monday and the match play rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Raptor Course will be contested as a par-70 with a 7,289-yard layout. The prestigious course hosted the PGA Tour's Frys.com Open from 2007-09 along with multiple championship events.
The Red Raiders come into the NCAA Championship ranked No. 13 by Golfweek and at No. 22 in Golfstat following their regional championship last week in Albuquerque. Tech won the tournament at 26-under, running away with the tournament after shooting 11-under in the final round and finishing 10 strokes ahead of Arizona State and Oregon State who took second at 16-under. The tournament win was the first of the season for the Red Raiders who come into the final event of the year with eight top-5 finishes through 11 stroke play events.
"We went with the mindset to play to our standard and let's try to win," said Sands of winning the regional championship. "You can't control winning, but you can play to your standard. You don't want to just show up and try to advance in the top-5."
Aberg has led the Red Raiders throughout the season, highlighted by winning The Prestige and the Thunderbird Collegiate before finishing fourth at the Big 12 Championship and NCAA Albuquerque Regional. A sophomore from Sweden, Aberg is No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and has been selected as a Fred Haskins Award finalist. He comes into the national final with a 70.68 scoring average this season after shooting 9-under (70-69-68 – 207) in the regional tournament for his sixth top-5 finish through 10 stroke play events this season. Aberg, who was a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist and also has a tournament win at the 2021 Jones Cup Invitational on his resume, has recorded 11 rounds in the 60s with low rounds of 65s coming in the final rounds of the Cabo Collegiate in San Antonio and the George Hannon Collegiate in Austin. He was a co-champion at the Thunderbird Collegiate after shooting 12-under by posting 67-67-67 – 201 which was the third best 54-hole score in Tech history.
Hogan and Lopez are playing in their first NCAA Championship as seniors following earning all-American honors during the 2019-20 COVID-shortened season. The pair of Tech seniors shot 2-under at the regional tournament in New Mexico to finish tied for 21st. A Cypress, Texas native, Hogan is a four-time Academic All-Big 12 selection who won the Maridoe Collegiate in October to begin this season. He earned an exemption to play in the PGA Houston Open with the win. Hogan is averaging rounds of 72.75 this season after posting 70-72-72 – 214 at the regional. Lopez won the 2019 Iverness Intercollegiate and tied for sixth at the Aggie Invitational for his top showing this season. A Plano, Texas native, Lopez shot a season-low 65 in the final round of the Colonial Collegiate to open this year and posted a 3-under, 69 in the second round at the Albuquerque Regional.
Martin is coming off a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional where he shot 6-under by firing a final-round 4-under, 68. A sophomore from San Antonio, Martin has five top-5 finishes this season following posting 72-70-68 – 210 on his regional scorecard. He earned ninth at the Thunderbird Collegiate after posting his season-low round of 65 (-6) in the first round and had his top finish with a third-place showing at the George Hannon Collegiate in mid-March at the tournament in Austin where he shot 69-69-70 – 208 (5-under). Martin enters the national finals with a 72.47 scoring average this season and is at No. 78 in the Golfweek rankings. Skogen is playing for the Red Raiders as a freshman and is coming off a 15th-place finish at the regional tournament where he shot 4-under. The Norwegian is averaging rounds of 73.5 this season and has recorded four top-20 individual showings. He shot 71-70-71 – 212 (4-under) in New Mexico after finishing 22nd at the Big 12 Championship where he closed out the conference tournament with a final-round 66 (4-under). Skogen's top finish in the spring semester came at the Aggie Invitational where he claimed 12th with a 75-76-67 – 218.
JP Roller is serving as the Red Raider alternate at the national final. A freshman from Jenks, Oklahoma, Roller has competed in five tournaments in his first season in Lubbock. He had his top result by finishing second at the DBU Men's Classic in April where he shot 6-under with a 69-68-73 – 210 scorecard.
Texas Tech is making its 13th appearance in the NCAA Championship, most recently advancing to the 2018 quarterfinals in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Red Raiders made their first appearance in 1956 where they finished 10th overall in Columbus, Ohio.
Along with Tech, the Big 12 is represented at the 2021 NCAA Championship by No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Texas and No. 37 TCU who advanced out of their regionals. The Red Raiders are seeded No. 19 in the championship while Florida State enters as the top seed following winning the NCAA Tallahassee Regional at 34-under. The tournament also includes Clemson, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Illinois, Pepperdine, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Liberty, SMU, San Francisco, Florida, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Sam Houston State, Oregon State, UAB, East Tennessee State, Little Rock and San Diego.
Fans can follow the tournament through live scoring at this Golfstat.com link along with on social media @TexasTechMGolf. The Golf Channel will begin its coverage of the tournament on Monday from 2-6 p.m. for the Individual National Championship before match play coverage on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tech starts the tournament with the first tee time of the championship at 6:32 a.m. (PST) on Friday in a pairing with No. 23 Arkansas and No. 25 San Diego State. The Red Raiders, who advanced to the program's 13th national tournament by winning the NCAA Albuquerque Regional, begin their second round at 11:52 a.m. (PST) on Saturday before Sunday's tee times are determined by scoring in the 30-team event.
"We've played a tough schedule this season for a reason," said Texas Tech head coach Greg Sands who is in his 20th season leading the program and making his ninth NCAA Championship appearance. "We've played a lot of these teams this year. We know and have beaten these guys. It's just a matter of having a good week."
The NCAA Men's Golf Championships consist of three days of stroke play on Friday thru Sunday (54 holes) with the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team moving on. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play on Monday to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, followed by the finals on Wednesday. The Golf Channel will broadcast the individual championship round on Monday and the match play rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Raptor Course will be contested as a par-70 with a 7,289-yard layout. The prestigious course hosted the PGA Tour's Frys.com Open from 2007-09 along with multiple championship events.
The Red Raiders come into the NCAA Championship ranked No. 13 by Golfweek and at No. 22 in Golfstat following their regional championship last week in Albuquerque. Tech won the tournament at 26-under, running away with the tournament after shooting 11-under in the final round and finishing 10 strokes ahead of Arizona State and Oregon State who took second at 16-under. The tournament win was the first of the season for the Red Raiders who come into the final event of the year with eight top-5 finishes through 11 stroke play events.
"We went with the mindset to play to our standard and let's try to win," said Sands of winning the regional championship. "You can't control winning, but you can play to your standard. You don't want to just show up and try to advance in the top-5."
Aberg has led the Red Raiders throughout the season, highlighted by winning The Prestige and the Thunderbird Collegiate before finishing fourth at the Big 12 Championship and NCAA Albuquerque Regional. A sophomore from Sweden, Aberg is No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and has been selected as a Fred Haskins Award finalist. He comes into the national final with a 70.68 scoring average this season after shooting 9-under (70-69-68 – 207) in the regional tournament for his sixth top-5 finish through 10 stroke play events this season. Aberg, who was a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist and also has a tournament win at the 2021 Jones Cup Invitational on his resume, has recorded 11 rounds in the 60s with low rounds of 65s coming in the final rounds of the Cabo Collegiate in San Antonio and the George Hannon Collegiate in Austin. He was a co-champion at the Thunderbird Collegiate after shooting 12-under by posting 67-67-67 – 201 which was the third best 54-hole score in Tech history.
Hogan and Lopez are playing in their first NCAA Championship as seniors following earning all-American honors during the 2019-20 COVID-shortened season. The pair of Tech seniors shot 2-under at the regional tournament in New Mexico to finish tied for 21st. A Cypress, Texas native, Hogan is a four-time Academic All-Big 12 selection who won the Maridoe Collegiate in October to begin this season. He earned an exemption to play in the PGA Houston Open with the win. Hogan is averaging rounds of 72.75 this season after posting 70-72-72 – 214 at the regional. Lopez won the 2019 Iverness Intercollegiate and tied for sixth at the Aggie Invitational for his top showing this season. A Plano, Texas native, Lopez shot a season-low 65 in the final round of the Colonial Collegiate to open this year and posted a 3-under, 69 in the second round at the Albuquerque Regional.
Martin is coming off a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional where he shot 6-under by firing a final-round 4-under, 68. A sophomore from San Antonio, Martin has five top-5 finishes this season following posting 72-70-68 – 210 on his regional scorecard. He earned ninth at the Thunderbird Collegiate after posting his season-low round of 65 (-6) in the first round and had his top finish with a third-place showing at the George Hannon Collegiate in mid-March at the tournament in Austin where he shot 69-69-70 – 208 (5-under). Martin enters the national finals with a 72.47 scoring average this season and is at No. 78 in the Golfweek rankings. Skogen is playing for the Red Raiders as a freshman and is coming off a 15th-place finish at the regional tournament where he shot 4-under. The Norwegian is averaging rounds of 73.5 this season and has recorded four top-20 individual showings. He shot 71-70-71 – 212 (4-under) in New Mexico after finishing 22nd at the Big 12 Championship where he closed out the conference tournament with a final-round 66 (4-under). Skogen's top finish in the spring semester came at the Aggie Invitational where he claimed 12th with a 75-76-67 – 218.
JP Roller is serving as the Red Raider alternate at the national final. A freshman from Jenks, Oklahoma, Roller has competed in five tournaments in his first season in Lubbock. He had his top result by finishing second at the DBU Men's Classic in April where he shot 6-under with a 69-68-73 – 210 scorecard.
Texas Tech is making its 13th appearance in the NCAA Championship, most recently advancing to the 2018 quarterfinals in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Red Raiders made their first appearance in 1956 where they finished 10th overall in Columbus, Ohio.
Along with Tech, the Big 12 is represented at the 2021 NCAA Championship by No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Texas and No. 37 TCU who advanced out of their regionals. The Red Raiders are seeded No. 19 in the championship while Florida State enters as the top seed following winning the NCAA Tallahassee Regional at 34-under. The tournament also includes Clemson, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Illinois, Pepperdine, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Liberty, SMU, San Francisco, Florida, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Sam Houston State, Oregon State, UAB, East Tennessee State, Little Rock and San Diego.
Fans can follow the tournament through live scoring at this Golfstat.com link along with on social media @TexasTechMGolf. The Golf Channel will begin its coverage of the tournament on Monday from 2-6 p.m. for the Individual National Championship before match play coverage on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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