May 4, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern received an at-large berth into the field of the 2009 NCAA Championships, earning the ninth seed in the Oklahoma Regional to be held May 14-16 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
There are six Regionals in this year's NCAA Championships, with three sites hosting 14 teams and three sites hosting 13 for a total of 81 teams in the field. The top five teams from each of the six regions and one individual not on those teams from each region advance to the 112th annual NCAA National Championships May 26-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, hosted by the University of Toledo.
The Oklahoma Regional is comprised of No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Arkansas, No. 20 Texas Christian, No. 30 Chattanooga, No. 38 Pepperdine, No. 41 Michigan State, No. 47 Baylor, No. 57 Northwestern, No. 65 Tulsa, No. 68 Denver, No. 88 Wichita State and No. 143 Oral Roberts. Rankings are from the Golfweek/Sagarin index.
The Wildcats are making their 24th all-time appearance in NCAA postseason play and their 10th during the 13-year tenure of head coach Pat Goss. Northwestern has advanced to five NCAA National Championships under Goss, most recently in 2006.
NU freshman Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) enters his first NCAA Championships as the 2009 Big Ten champion, becoming the first freshman to win the conference crown since Steve Stricker of Illinois in 1986.
Northwestern is one of nine Big Ten schools to gain entry into the field of 81. Along with NU and Michigan State, the seven other schools to earn bids are Illinois, Penn State, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State.
For the complete list of six Regional sites and entrants into the field of the 112th NCAA Championships, link to NCAA.com.