The South Dakota State men’s golf team is making history after being announced as one of 81 teams in the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship Thursday morning during the NCAA Selection Show.
The Jackrabbits, the 13th seed, are playing in their first Division I regional and will join No. 1 seed Illinois, Florida State, Florida, Arkansas, Baylor Penn State, Memphis, Kent State, UCLA, East Tennessee State, Campbell and Idaho, May 16-18 in Kohler, Wisconsin.
“We are very excited to be traveling to the Kohler Regional,” SDSU Director of Golf Casey VanDamme said. “The NCAA puts on an incredible championship and I look forward to our players getting the opportunity to experience their first regional.”
The regional will be played in a 54-hole format with teams playing 18 holes each day on the par-72, 7,404-yard Blackwolf Run Meadow Valley’s course. The Meadow Valley’s course was recently listed among the top-100 in Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s Greatest Public Golf Courses.
SDSU captured its first Summit League Championship with an 11-stroke win over Omaha May 1-3 at Sand Creek Station Golf Club in Newton, Kan.
Freshmen Felipe Strobach (Lima, Peru) was named to the 2016 Summit League All-Tournament Team after finishing tied for second and registering 72.3 stroke average for the three-day championship.
During the regular season, the Jackrabbits won The Jackrabbit Invitational and finished in the top 10 in five tournaments. SDSU’s team stroke average of 296.97 is on pace to rank second for stroke average in a single season (295.59, 2008-09).
Should South Dakota State finish as one of the top five teams in the 54-hole regional, it will advance to the NCAA Tournament in Eugene, Ore., May 27-June 1 at the Eugene Country Club.
