Gamecocks Tee It Up At West Lafayette Regional Monday

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (USC SID) – Postseason play gets underway Monday for South Carolina men’s golf in the Midwest as the team competes in the NCAA West Lafayette Regional, hosted by Purdue University. The Gamecocks, led by Second Team All-SEC selections Keenan Huskey and Scott Stevens, will be gunning for a spot in the top five and a trip to the program’s fifth-straight NCAA Championship.

Both Huskey and Stevens were key contributors on last season’s squad that finished second at the Tuscaloosa Regional. Huskey placed ninth (-2) and Stevens T-30th (+5) as the team punched its ticket to a fourth consecutive NCAA Championship, a program record.

Freshman Jamie Wilson, sophomore Ryan Stachler and sophomore Will Miles will all be making their NCAA debuts on Monday morning. Carolina will be paired with No. 20 Auburn and Colorado for the first 18 holes tomorrow. Stachler will lead off for the Gamecocks at 8:20 a.m. on hole No. 10 at the Kampen Course.

HISTORY AT NCAA REGIONALS

The Gamecocks are making their 26th trip to NCAA Regionals. Since head coach Bill McDonald’s arrival in 2006-2007, Carolina has missed regionals just one time. A top-five finish at the Kampen Course will be the Gamecocks’ fifth-straight trip to the NCAA Championship, improving a program record which was set last season.

Kyle Thompson, who now plays professionally, is the only player in school history to earn medalist honors at NCAA Regionals. He won individual titles in 1999 and 2001.

Carolina’s lone team title at regionals came in 2007 after the squad shot a course record 44-under at the NCAA West Regional at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. The upset-minded Gamecocks came into the event seeded 11th.

REGIONAL FIELD

No. 5 Florida is the top seed in Carolina’s regional. Big Ten champion Illinois is seeded second, Mountain West champion UNLV is seeded third and fellow SEC member Auburn is seeded fourth. The Gamecocks have squared off against five opponents in the regional during the regular season, posting a 7-3 record with head-to-head finishes in front of Auburn (3), Augusta (2), Purdue (1) and Richmond (1).

The field is deep in West Lafayette with eight of the 13 teams ranked in the top-50 of the latest Golfstat rankings. Augusta (52) and St. Mary’s (57) are slotted just outside the top-50 in the polls.