U-M To Host 2012 NCAA Golf Regional

From a University of Michigan Press Release:

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The University of Michigan and U-M Golf Course have been selected as one of six regional host sites for the 2012 NCAA Regional Championships. The three-day, 54-hole event will run Thursday through Saturday, May 17-19, 2012.

“We are thrilled to showcase our wonderful golf course and new practice facility in hosting an NCAA Regional,” said U-M head coach Andrew Sapp. “I have always wanted to test the best players in college golf on our Alister MacKenzie design and this is a great opportunity to do that.”

The U-M Golf Course, which has hosted a total of 11 conference championships, last hosted an NCAA event when the women’s program hosted the 2007 NCAA Central Regional. The men’s program has hosted NCAA events in 1996 with the NCAA Central Regional and in 1947, when the NCAA Finals were played at the U-M Golf Course.

The U-M Golf Course was designed in the late 1920s by Alister MacKenzie, one of golf’s all-time greatest architects. The course officially opened in the spring of 1931 and immediately drew praise as one of the finest in America. At the time of its opening, the U-M Golf Course became just the fourth course to be located on a college campus. A multi-million dollar renovation completed in the spring of 1994 restored the grandeur of the U-M Golf Course to the ranks of MacKenzie’s other classics.

The Wolverines have qualified for an NCAA Regional in each of the past three seasons. In 2009, U-M advanced out of the Southwest Regional, finished sixth in stroke play at the NCAA finals and ended up with a third-place national finish after match play. In 2008, U-M played at the NCAA Central Regional and missed advancing by a three shots. In 2010, U-M again played in the NCAA Central Regional and missed the finals by one shot.

Future NCAA Regional Sites
2012—UNC Greensboro (Forest Oaks Country Club), Georgia (University of Georgia Golf Course), Michigan (U-M Golf Course), Oklahoma (Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club), Stanford (Stanford Golf Course) and Western Kentucky (The Club at Olde Stone), 2012 NCAA Finals: Hosted by USC (Riviera Country Club)

2013—Arizona State (Karsten Golf Course), Arkansas (The Blessings Golf Club), Florida State (Golden Eagle Golf and Country Club), LSU (The University Club), Ohio State (The Scarlet Course) and Washington State (Palouse Ridge Golf Club)

N O T E S
• In 2009, the NCAA altered the format of the NCAA Championships, increasing the regional sites from three to six. From each regional, the top five teams and low individual not on a qualifying team advance to the NCAA Finals. In the championship final, the 30-team field plays three rounds to determine an individual champion, and the top eight teams advance to a match-play playoff to determine the team national champion.