FERRIS STATE MEN'S GOLF EARNS BID TO NCAA SUPER REGIONALS

Ferris State University will be represented at the 2005 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships Super Regionals May 2-4 as the Bulldogs are automatic qualifiers after capturing their 18th Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) title this past fall.

Eighty teams and 50 individuals will be competing in the super regionals. The five super regional tournaments comprise the current 10 regions.

Ferris, under sixth-year head coach Brad Bedortha, will take part in the Central/Great Lakes Super Regional at the St. Joseph (Mo.) Country Club with Missouri Western State College serving as the host. The Bulldogs, who were ranked first in the Great Lakes Region as of April 14 by the NCAA-II Men's Golf Committee, are seeded second in the Great Lakes Region for the second straight year behind Grand Valley State. Wayne State, Northern Kentucky, Northwood, Indianapolis, Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis comprise the remaining eight-team regional field. Ferris along with Wisconsin-Parkside both earned automatic berths after winning the GLIAC and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championship titles, respectively. Five individuals from non-qualifying teams were also selected to compete. South Carolina-Aiken, the 2004 national champions, will have an opportunity to defend its national title after securing the Southeast Region's top seed.

Sophomore Jeff Carlson and the Bulldogs will be taking part in the NCAA Great Lakes Super Regional for the third consecutive season. Carlson was Ferris' top individual finisher at last year's event with a seventh-place 12-over par 225 score.

The team from each region within the super regional along with the top individual not affiliated with a super regional team (regardless of region) will advance to the 2005 NCAA-II Men's Golf National Championships May 17-20 at The Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Ga. Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.) is hosting the national tourney. Ten additional teams will also earn berths to the finals and these teams will be determined based on the previous three-year average of top 10 finishes of a super regional at the finals. All participants will compete throughout the entire 72 holes of competition. In the team competition, the low four scores for each team will count in each day’s total score.

A season ago (May 3-5), Ferris State placed fifth in the Great Lakes Super Regional with a three-round 927 team score (+75) on the Lassing Pointe Golf Club course in Union, Ky. The Bulldogs totaled rounds of 312, 304 and 311 but failed to qualify for nationals. In 2003 (May 5-7), FSU won the regional tournament by carding a 54-hole 895 score (296-302-297--895) at the Silo Ridge Country Club in Bolivar, Mo. Ferris would go on to a 15th-place showing at the 41st annual NCAA-II National Championships (May 20-23) in Sunriver, Ore., as a result of posting a four-round 1,216-stroke total.

Highlights of the NCAA-II Men's Golf Championships will be shown on CBS Saturday, July 2, at 5 p.m. (EDT). The CBS seasonal show will feature highlights of 17 different NCAA championships which were conducted during the spring.

Great Lakes Region Teams
1. Grand Valley State
2. Ferris State
3. Wayne State
4. Northern Kentucky
5. Northwood
6. Indianapolis
7. Wisconsin-Parkside
8. Lewis

Great Lakes Region Individuals
Dave Patronik, Gannon
David Morgan, Findlay
Matt Springer, St. Joseph's (Ind.)
Jason Fryia, Bellarmine
Eric Atsma, Findlay