AUGUSTA, Ga. — After having about two weeks off following their victory at the Southland Conference Championship, the Augusta golf team is set to take part in the NCAA Regional in Tallahassee, Fl. The 54 hole tournament runs May 12-14 with 18 holes scheduled each day. There are 14 teams competing with the top five advancing to the NCAA Championship to be held later this month in California.
The Tallahassee Region is made up of Augusta, Ole Miss, Florida State, San Diego State, Georgia, Lousivlle, Northwestern, Notre Dame, New Mexico, Southern California, Michigan State, Furman, Davidson and Florida A&M. Many of the programs the Jags saw over the course of the season which gives them some familiarity.
Bo Blanchard II is coming off winning the SLC and was named conference golfer of the year. This is Blanchard’s first year with the Jags and understands the history the program has and wants to keep that tradition going.
“Our program is definitely rich in history so we want to keep that going and see what we can do,” said Blanchard.
A year ago, AU was just a few strokes away from making the NCAA Championships as they were part of the Stanford Regional. Not being one of the top seeds this year could be a blessing in disguise said men’s golf coach Steven Paine.
“I think for us, which is good, we’re not one of those top five seeds. We kind of have the mentality of playing with house money, but with a chip on your shoulder, which can be good,” said Paine. “Those top ranked teams are under a lot of pressure because they’re expected to get through, so I think that’s going to be our mentality going in. Playing with house money allows us to be a little bit more aggressive and I hope that works out.”
Round one is scheduled to tee off at 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m on May 12 as they will utilize both number one and number ten tees at Seminole Legacy Golf Course.