Titans Assigned To NCAA Golf Central Regional

The Horizon League champion Titan men’s golfers received their post-season assignment from the NCAA this evening and are on their way to the Central Regional, to be played May 20-22 at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Club.

Also journeying to the Central Regional will be Youngstown State's Ryan Stocke.  The senior took home top medalist honors at the Horizon League Championships to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA event.

Detroit, ranked 138th nationally this week by Golfstat, will face 13 other teams and five individual competitors at Notre Dame. The top five teams from each of the six Regionals, as well as the top individual not on an advancing team, will move on to the NCAA Championship in Chattanooga, June 1-5.

Detroit captured its Horizon League-record seventh men’s golf championship – the sixth in the last 12 years alone – April 26-27 to earn its fifth NCAA Regional berth. Previously, UDM played at the West Regional in 2001 (Oregon State), 2002 (New Mexico) and 2007 (Arizona State) as well as the Central Regional (also at Notre Dame) in 2005.

The Titans won this year’s HL Championship by a six-stroke margin over Green Bay at 7,032-yard Kearney Hill Links in Lexington, KY. Green Bay opened up a three-shot lead over UDM after 18 holes, but the Titans came back to take a one-stroke advantage by the end of the 36-hole first day of competition. Following a five-hour rain delay on Day Two (April 27), Detroit shot an even-par round of 288 to win the championship after having finished runner-up the two previous years.

Juniors Jeff Clarridge (Barrie, ON/Bear Creek) and Britt Pronk (London, ON/St. Thomas Aquinas) led the way for Detroit as they shared third place individually at the league championship. The Titans also include the 2010 Horizon League Player of the Year, senior David Byrne (Essex, ON/Essex), in their lineup.

“The guys worked hard this year to get back to the Regionals after those close calls the last two years. We kept improving this spring,” noted Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year Mark Engel, “and I think we’ll keep playing our best golf at the right time.”

The entire Central Regional field:

1. Stanford

2. Florida

3. Florida State

4. Duke

5. LSU

6. North Carolina State

7. Iowa

8. Michigan

9. Northwestern

10. Indiana

11. Virginia Tech

12. Murray State

13. Detroit

14. St. Francis (PA)

Individuals:

Jack Newman, Michigan State; Ben Pisani, Minnesota ; Erich Johnston, Purdue; Ryan Stocke, Youngstown State; Doug Hoppe, Iona

Courtesy of Detroit Sports Information Department