No. 4 Braves Selected For NCAA South/Southeast Super Regional
INDIANAPOLIS – Fourth-ranked UNCP is among 20 teams and eight individuals that have been selected to converge on Conover and the Rock Barn Spa & Resort as part of the 2012 NCAA South/Southeast Men's Golf Super Regional, the organization announced Friday afternoon.
UNCP, the top seed out of the Southeast Region, will join 19 other teams at the event, including nine other teams from the NCAA's Southeast Region, as well as 10 teams from the South Region. The Black & Gold, an automatic selection by virtue of its Peach Belt Conference championship, will be one of six PBC teams competing in the event and is joined by No. 14 USC Aiken, No. 21 Georgia College, No. 18 Georgia Southwestern, No. 16 Armstrong Atlantic and Columbus State.
No. 17 Wingate (automatic bid – South Atlantic Conference), No. 23 Carson-Newman, No. 24 Barton and Coker (automatic bid – Conference Carolinas) make up the remainder of the field from the Southeast Region.
The South Region field is headlined by top-seeded and top-ranked Nova Southeastern, an automatic bid out of the Sunshine State Conference, as well as No. 2 Barry, No. 5 Lynn, No. 6 North Alabama (automatic bid – Gulf South Conference), No. 8 West Florida, No. 15 Florida Southern, No. 22 Rollins, Florida Tech, Eckerd and Valdosta State.
In addition, four individuals from each region were selected to participate in the event as well. The Southeast Region individuals include Belmont Abbey's Adam Hedges, Lincoln Memorial's Eric Kennedy, Newberry's Matthew Campbell and Flagler's Greg Mergel. The South Region individuals include Saint Leo's Nick Brothers, West Georgia's Bryn Powers and Delta State's Grant Goforth and Luke Brown.
The top-five teams and the top-two student-athletes not with a team from each regional (regardless of region) will advance to the finals, May 15-19, at The Cardinal Club in Simpsonville, Ky., as part of the 2012 Division II Spring Championships Festival. The Festival will be hosted by Bellarmine and the Louisville Sports Commission.
The regional bid marks the fifth time in school history that the Braves have been selected to compete as a team in the NCAA postseason, as well as the second-straight season. The Braves have been represented on an individual basis in six different NCAA regional tournaments.
