The University of Colorado men’s golf squad earned a team berth in the NCAA Division I Regionals for the fifth consecutive year, and several other Coloradans also will be competing in regional tournaments May 15-17.
The Buffs, ranked No. 26 in the nation by Golfweek and No. 32 by Golfstat, will be the No. 6 seed out of 13 teams at the West Lafayette, Ind., Regional. The University of Florida will be the top seed at the site, while host Purdue is No. 7 at its Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.
CU is making its 21st regional appearance as a team since 1989, but hasn’t advanced to the NCAA Championship Finals since 2002. The Buffs’ chances of ending that drought were dealt a blow last month when senior Jeremy Paul, the program’s all-time leader in scoring average, turned pro prior to the Pac-12 tournament in Boulder and the NCAA Regionals. Paul was CU’s top finisher at regionals last year, tying for 21st individually in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Three Colorado residents — Ethan Freeman, Spencer Painton and Wilson Belk — were on CU’s roster for the Pac-12 Championship at Boulder Country Club over the weekend, though that event featured six players per team as opposed to the five for regionals. (Freeman is pictured with CU coach Roy Edwards.)
The NCAA Regional fields and seedings for all six sites were announced on Wednesday on the Golf Channel. At each of those 54-hole tournaments, the top five team finishers (out of 13 or 14) and the low individual not on those teams will earn spots in the NCAA Finals, set for May 26-31 in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Meanwhile, a few other Coloradans also will compete in Men’s NCAA DI Regionals. Colorado State sophomore Jake Staiano was the top seed among the individuals that will play in Austin, Texas. Also at that regional, Coloradan Josh Seiple will be in the field with his University of Mississippi team, which is seeded fourth at the site.
And Wyndham Clark of Highlands Ranch, a senior for the defending national champs at the University of Oregon, will play in the Baton Rouge, La., Regional for the Ducks, who are seeded second there. Clark is the top-ranked men’s college player in the nation.
Clark, Seiple and Staiano all played their high school golf at Valor Christian in Colorado.
