Lakers Set to Compete in Second Straight NAIA Men's Golf National Championship
SILVIS, Ill. – The Roosevelt University men's golf team is set to compete in the 70th Annual NAIA Men's Golf National Championship, which will take place May 17 through May 20 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. The Lakers are making their second straight appearance in the national championship and will begin play in the opening round on Tuesday, May 17 with a 12:40pm tee time.
The championship is a four-round tournament consisting of 29 teams and a maximum of 156 golfers. Competition is stroke play with each team competing with five golfers (minimum of four) and the top four scores posted each day are counted toward the team standings. The tournament field is cut to 17 teams and the top 40 individuals after the first 36 holes.
"It is exciting to be back at TPC Deere Run, where we have had a lot of success as a team, winning two conference championships and playing in last year's NAIA National Championship," stated Lakers Head Coach Peter Pougnet. "We learned so much from last year's national championship event, including how to prepare and do the right things to give us a chance and play our best golf this week. We know that it is about us as we need to go out and play our game and not worry about anyone else."
The Lakers will be led by Cooper Carmody and Jared Tjelmeland, who both tied for third place individually in the CCAC Conference Championship in late April with Tjelmeland also winning the Bethel University Pilot Invitational earlier this year. Coach Pougnet will also be counting on a strong performance from Alvaro Pardo Gutierrez, who took first place in the Olivet Nazarene University Fall Invitational. Rounding out the Lakers lineup are Charlie Curtis and Trace McGuire, with Curtis posting a season best fourth place finish in the Holy Cross College Saints Classic and McGuire placing sixth in the Judson University Fall Aldeen Invitational.
"After our comeback finish to overcome an 18-shot margin and win by 10 shots at the CCAC Championship, we are very excited to be back competing in the NAIA National Championship," added Pougnet. "We feel that we have more to prove after last year, and we are going to take advantage of our experience and a year more of maturity as a team to try and play our best golf. This was one of our team goals and we still have more golf to play to reach more of our goals."
Click below to view the official NAIA National Championship website and follow via live scoring.
NAIA MEN'S GOLF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE | LIVE SCORING