The No. 11 Kent State University Men’s Golf Team begin the 2017 NCAA National Championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL today, starting with three stroke play rounds from Friday to Sunday.
The field is reduced to 15 teams for the final round of stroke play Monday, after which the NCAA will crown an individual medalist.
On Tuesday, the top eight teams will compete in match play quarter and semifinals.
Finally, the remaining two teams will compete Wednesday for the NCAA National Championship.
The Golf Channel will broadcast the final three days of competition.
2017 NCAA Mens Golf Championship Results Here >
The Flashes bring their five top ranked golfers to Rich Harvest Farms, all of which are in the national top-200. The lineup is stacked from top to bottom and features 2016 MAC Player of the Year Chase Johnson, 2017 MAC Player of the Year Ian Holt and 2017 MAC Individual Champion Gisli Sveinbergsson. The lineup is rounded out by Josh Whalen and and Bjarki Petursson, who carry three tournament championships combined this year.
All five golfers were honored this year on the All-MAC First Team, a feat never accomplished by a MAC program before.
Kent State makes its 18th trip to the NCAA National Championship and first since 2013. The Flashes look to top their previous best finish at Nationals from 2012, when the Flashes advanced to the quarterfinals of match play. That year, Kent State was the eighth seed and fell to the national runners up in Alabama. Corey Conners finished fourth as an individual in 2012.
Live scoring is available throughout the tournament, while the Golf Channel will pick up the action in round four.
All 30 teams in the field competed in six separate regional tournaments. Every team finished in the top-5 to earn their spot in the final dance. The entire field is as follows, in order of Golfstat ranking:
No. 1 Southern California
No. 2 Oklahoma State
No. 3 Vanderbilt
No. 4 Stanford
No. 5 Baylor
No. 6 LSU
No. 8 Illinois
No. 9 Oregon
No. 11 Kent State
No. 14 Texas
No. 15 Clemson
No. 16 UNLV
No. 17 Oklahoma
No. 18 Virginia
No. 19 Duke
No. 20 Auburn
No. 22 Ole Miss
No. 23 Pepperdine
No. 24 Arizona State
No. 25 Florida State
No. 27 North Carolina
No. 31 Alabama
No. 32 Lipscomb
No. 36 Kennesaw State
No. 37 Purdue
No. 39 Jacksonville
No. 42 New Mexico
No. 44 Iowa State
No. 47 Central Florida
No. 48 Penn State
2017 NCAA Mens Golf Championship Results Here >
Story courtesy of the Kent State Athletic Dept.
