Huskies Head To Tempe For NCAA West Regional
May 10, 2007
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2007 NCAA WEST REGIONAL
Thursday, May 17 - Saturday, May 19
Host - Arizona State University • Tempe, Ariz.
Karsten Golf Course • Par 72 - 7,057 Yards
Live Scoring - Golfstat.com/GoHuskies.com
NCAA West Regional Up Next:
The 35th-ranked Washington men's golf team will travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the NCAA West Regional Championships, to be held at Arizona State's Karsten Golf Course, Thursday, May 17, through Saturday, May 19. Play each day begins at 6:30 a.m. PT/MT. The tournament features a 54-hole format that includes one round of 18 holes to be played each day. The Karsten Golf Course, on ASU's campus, is a par-72 and 7,057 yard course. Washington is the 12th seed in a field of 27 teams in the West Region.
What's On The Line:
The top-10 teams and top-two individuals not on a top-10 team from the West Regional will advance to compete in the NCAA Championships hosted by Virginia Commonwealth, May 30-June 2. The team finals will be held at the Gold Course at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va.
The Field:
Sixteen of the 27 teams in the West Regional field are ranked in the latest GolfWeek Top-50 led by second-ranked Stanford, fifth-ranked USC, eighth-ranked UCLA and ninth-ranked UNLV. The 27-team field is as follows in order of seed: No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 UNLV, No. 4 USC, No. 5 East Tennessee State, No. 6 BYU, No. 7 Arizona State, No. 8 Wake Forest, No. 9 Arizona, No. 10 UC Irvine, No. 11 South Carolina, No. 12 Washington, No. 13 Vanderbilt, No. 14 Augusta State, No. 15 Pepperdine, No. 16 San Diego State, No. 17 New Mexico, No. 18 Oregon State, No. 19 Colorado State, No. 20 Oregon, No. 21 California, No. 22 Nevada, No. 23 Denver, No. 24 Pennsylvania, No. 25 Detriot, No. 26 Bucknell and No. 27 Monmouth. The six individuals competing are Brian Locke (Loyola Marymount), Dustin Pimm (Utah), Darrin Hall (San Diego), Michael McRae (St. Mary's), Geoff Gonzalez (Cal Poly), Thomas Peterson (Pacific).
Regional Live Scoring:
Fans can follow the Huskies in Tempe with live scoring available at GolfStat.com.
Husky Lineup:
The Huskies' lineup at regionals will feature senior Alex Prugh (Spokane), sophomore Chris Killmer (Bellingham), senior Erik Olson (Renton), junior Zach Bixler (Richland) and freshman Joel Dahmen (Clarkston).
UW Regional History:
Washington is making its 12th-straight trip to the NCAA Regional Championships and 13th overall. The Huskies have finished third at the last two regionals including tying for third at last year's tournament held in Tucson, Ariz. UW has won one regional crown in 2002. Only twice have the Huskies not finished in the Top-10 at a regional, finishing 11th in 1998 and 1991.
Last Year At Regionals:
The Huskies rallied from ninth place to third after shooting a scorching 17-under 271 on the third and final day of the 2006 NCAA West Regional in Tucson, Ariz. UW's round was the best by any team in any round of the tournament and also matched the Washington school record for a third round team score of 271 set in 2002. Then-sophomore Zach Bixler led the way for the Huskies, shooting a season-best 5-under 67 in the final round to finish third overall. His third-place finish established a new career best at that point, as did his 54-hole total of 204. Then-junior Alex Prugh actually carded the low round of the final day with a 6-under 66, finishing the tournament in 32nd at 4-under 212. UW's other finishers were James Lepp (18th), Erik Olson (57th) and Sterling Clark (99).
Regional Dawg Bites:
Three of Washington's five players in the lineup for next week have regional experience...junior Zach Bixler's third place showing last year matched a UW record previously set by Mike Swingle in 1991...senior Erik Olson and senior Alex Prugh also have top-12 regional finishes on their resume...Olson finished 10th in 2005, while Prugh finished 12th also in 2005...Two players in the UW lineup - sophomore transfer Chris Killmer and freshman Joel Dahmen - will be making their first NCAA regional appearances...no Husky has ever won a regional title.
UW Vies For Ninth Straight NCAA Appearance:
On the line for Washington in Tempe will be its streak of eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championships. UW is one of five NCAA Division I teams to make eight straight trips including Arizona, Oklahoma State, Georgia and Georgia Tech. Washington is coming off a ninth place finish at NCAA's last season and has finished in the Top-10 the last three straight years.
Pac-10 Championships Recap:
Washington finished fifth at this year's Pac-10 Championships hosted by Oregon, finishing the three-day, four-round tournament at 13-over 1,453. The Huskies had three players finish in the Top-25, led by senior Alex Prugh who tied for 16th. For the Huskies, it was their fifth-straight Top-5 Pac-10 finish. UW finished as the runner-up at the event last season and won the conference title in 2005. Prugh shot 2-over 74 in the final round, finishing the tournament with an even-par 288. Senior Erik Olson (t-22nd) and freshman Joel Dahmen (t-24th) rounded out UW's top 25 finishers. Sophomore Chris Killmer tied for 34th, freshman Nick Taylor tied for 44th and junior Zach Bixler finished 55th.
Top Dawg:
Senior Alex Prugh has been the Huskies top player all season long, coming in as the team's best finisher in 10 of 11 tournaments. Prugh leads the team with a career-low 71.83 stroke average and has notched 12 rounds under par this year. Prugh set a new career-low 54-hole score of 201 at the Hawaii-Hilo Intercollegiate (Feb. 7-9), where he also matched his career-low single round score of 65. Prugh won his first career title this season, sharing co-medalist honors at the Oregon Duck Invitational (March 26-27). Prugh bested his previous career-high finish of runner-up three times: at the 2004 Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge, 2005 Gopher Invitational and the 2006 National Invitational.
Prugh Named To All-Pac-10 Team:
Washington senior golfer Alex Prugh was named to the All-Pac-10 second team the conference office announced April 26. The All-Pac-10 team is based upon a vote of the league's coaches. Prugh, a native of Spokane, Wash., earned his third-straight nod to the All-Pac-10 team after earning first-team honors last season and second-team acclaim in 2005. Prugh is tied for fourth on Washington's all-time list for top-10 finishes with 12.
Huskies Share The Wealth:
Four different Husky players have won tournament titles this season. In addition to Prugh winning the Oregon Duck Invitational, sophomore John Wise took home medalist honors in the team's season debut at the Opus NW Husky Invitational back in September. It was just the third varsity event for Wise who played mainly in JV tournaments for UW as a freshman. Wise shot 7-under 209 playing as an individual so his score didn't count towards the team total. Two other Huskies won JV tournament titles. Sophomore transfer Chris Killmer won the Washington National Winter Championships with a career-low 54-hole score of 211. He finished 5-under par. Freshman Nick Taylor won the UBC Invitational, shooting a 2-over 218.
Terrific Transfer:
Sophomore Chris Killmer transferred to Washington from Cal State Bakersfield prior to the season and has emerged as one of the Huskies' top players. Killmer is second on the team with a 72.93 stroke average and has been one of the team's top three scorers in four of the last five varsity tournaments. As was previously mentioned, as a member of the JV team, Killmer won the Washington National Winter Championships in early March with a career-low 5-under 211 performance. At Cal State Bakersfield last year, Killmer was a third-team All-American and won the Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year Award.
Head Coach Matt Thurmond:
Husky head coach Matt Thurmond is in his sixth year at the helm of the Washington men's golf program. During Thurmond's tenure, Washington has had its first NCAA individual champion (James Lepp, 2005), and its second Pac-10 individual champion (Erik Olson, 2005), as well as setting school records for NCAA Regional (first) and NCAA Championship finishes (third). Under Thurmond's tutelage, the Huskies also won their first Pac-10 title since 1988 in 2005.
