May 14, 2003
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Northwestern's 27th-ranked men's golf team begins its quest for a fifth NCAA national postseason berth on Thursday at the NCAA Division I Central Regional Championships, being held at the Colbert Hills Golf Course and hosted by Kansas State University.
The top 10 placing teams will advance to nationals, and with the Wildcats seeded 10th, a strong performance will be required by Northwestern to earn its first championships trip since 2000.
"My outlook on this weekend's tournament is no different that what I've said all season," says head coach Pat Goss. "If we can get three guys to play their best golf, we can be as dangerous as any team in the country. Lately, though, we've only been getting one top performance and that has left us in the middle of the pack the last couple months.
"Our guys are feeling good about their games right now -- they just have to go out and play to their potential. I've been encouraged of late by the improved play of Casey Strunk and T.C. Ford. There's no reason why they can't step up and turn in some of our top rounds as well."
Goss will go with the same lineup that produced a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago -- Tom Johnson, Bjorn Widerstedt, Scott Harrington, Strunk and Ford. Led by Johnson, who is ranked 27th in the latest individual Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, the Wildcats finished Big Ten's strong and five strokes shy of a third-place finish behind Illinois and Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are the defending national champion.
This weekend's regional format will consist of 54 holes, with 18 holes played each of the three days of the event -- Thursday through Saturday. Play during each round will be divided into two sessions -- a morning wave teeing off on holes No. 1 and 10 between 7:12 a.m. and 8:33 a.m. and an afternoon wave beginning on holes No. 1 and 10 between 11:15 a.m. and 1:21 p.m. The Wildcats are slated to tee off from the 10th hole at 12:18 and 12:27 p.m. Thursday.
Live Stats are available for the tournament by linking to NCAA Central Regional Men's Championships. Additional information on the tournament can be found at Kansas State Athletics.