Wildcats ready to defend regional golf championship in Missouri

Monday, May 7

Jefferson City, Mo.

Abilene Christian

NCAA DII South Central/Midwest Super Regional

Photo by: Jeremy Singleton

Wildcats ready to defend regional golf championship in Missouri

5/4/2012 4:43:00 PM | Men's Golf

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The ACU Wildcats begin defense of their NCAA Division II South Central / Midwest Super Region championship on Monday at the Jefferson City Country Club.

The 54-hole tournament begins Monday and will conclude Wednesday at the par-72, 7,717-yard layout at the Jefferson City C.C. ACU and Central Oklahoma shared the regional title last year after the Wildcats lost as much as a 16-stroke lead in the final round to fall into the tie with UCO.

ACU enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed in the South Central Region behind No. 1 St. Edward's and No. 2 Central Oklahoma. Lone Star Conference champion Cameron is in the field as the No. 8 seed, while Midwestern State is the No. 7 seed and West Texas A&M is the No. 10 seed. Along with UCO, another former LSC member, Northeastern State at No. 9, is in the field.

The Wildcats enter the tournament coming off a second-place finish at the LSC Tournament two weeks at The Trophy Club. ACU played the first nine holes in 14-over-par and then went 14-under-par the rest of the day. The Wildcats, in fact, were a combined 11-under-par over the final 45 holes of the tournament after getting off to the poor start. A good start, ACU head coach Mike Campbell, is imperative for the Wildcats at the regional tournament.

"We just had a bad start, and that cost us," Campbell said. "We just have to focus on getting off to a good start. If we can do that, I think we'll have a good chance to make the national tournament."

The top five teams and the top two individuals not with a team from each regional (regardless of region) will advance to the national championship tournament, which will be played May 15-19, at The Cardinal Club in Simpsonville, Ky., as part of the 2012 NCAA Division II Spring Championships Festival. The Festival will be hosted by Bellarmine University the Louisville Sports Commission.

The other teams in the field are No. 4 Washburn (Kan.), Heartland Conference champion Arkansas-Fort Smith at No. 5, and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association champion Central Missouri at No. 6.

The teams from the Midwest Region in the tournament are No. 1 Northern Kentucky, No. 2 Ferris State (Mich.), No. 3 Indianapolis, No. 4 Grand Valley State (Mich.), No. 5 Bellarmine (Ky.), No. 6 Tiffin (Ohio), No. 7 Northwood (Mich.), No. 8 Ashland (Ohio), No. 9 Findlay (Ohio), and No. 10 Wayne State (Mich.).

The latest Golf World / Nike Golf Division II College Coaches' poll has a handfuil of teams in the two regions ranked with ACU checking in as the highest-ranked team at No. 10. Also ranked in the latest poll are Central Oklahoma (No. 11), St. Edward's (No. 12), Indianapolis (No. 20), and Central Missouri (No. 24) with several teams receiving votes in the latest poll.