Wingate, Carson-Newman Earn Bids to NCAA Men’s Golf Championship
INDIANAPOLIS - The field of 80 teams for the 2012 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship has been set, with SAC schools Wingate and Carson-Newman earning selections. Wingate received the conference's automatic bid, while Carson-Newman was an at-large selection.
The Southeast Regional will take place May 7-9 at Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Conover, N.C. - also the site of the 2012 Food Lion SAC Golf Championship. Lenoir-Rhyne is the host institution for the Regional.
Wingate enters the NCAA Championship after capturing the SAC title two weeks prior. The Bulldogs finished 15 strokes ahead of second-place Newberry at the tournament.
In total, Wingate won four tournaments during the 2011-12 regular season and recorded five more top-five finishes.
Carson-Newman, meanwhile, is coming off a third-place finish at the SAC Championship. The Eagles have won two events in 2011-12, and finished in the top five at seven of their nine events.
In addition to the team bids, Newberry's Matthew Campbell and Lincoln Memorial's Eric Kennedy were two of the four student-athletes from the Southeast Region to earn individual selections to compete in the NCAA Championship.
Campbell shot a one-under 215 at the SAC Championship - including an opening-round of 69 - to win the individual medal. In nine events this season, Campbell has totaled a non-adjusted scoring average of 72.7.
His low round of the season came on Oct. 18, where he fired a third-round 68 at the Will Wilson Tanglewood Intercollegiate.
Kennedy recorded two top-five finishes this season and compiled a non-adjusted scoring average of 73.0. His 66 in the second round of the Richard Rendleman Invitational was tied for the best LMU score of the season.