CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Augusta State fired a seven-under 277 and finished in second place Saturday afternoon in the NCAA East Regional hosted by the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga at Council Fire Golf Club.
With the effort, the Jaguars earned a trip to the NCAA Championships at Purdue University’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, scheduled for May 28-31 in West Lafayette, Ind. In addition, ASU has now advanced to the NCAA Championships three times in six seasons under head coach Josh Gregory and 10 times overall in 13 NCAA Regional appearances.
The Jaguars posted their second-best NCAA Regional finish in school history. With a three-round total of 20-under-par 832, ASU registered the fourth-lowest total in school history and the lowest-ever 54-hole total in 13 NCAA regional appearances.
Freshman Henrik Norlander paced the Jags individually, carding a four-under 67 to take third place alone at 11-under 202. Senior Keith Guest, junior Tarik Can and sophomore Jake Amos each turned in rounds of one-under 70 while sophomore Mitch Krywulycz notched a two-over 73.
Can tied for 17th, Guest tied for 29th, Krywulycz tied for 38th and Amos tied for 65th. For the tournament, the Jags had 13 of 15 rounds at even-par or better.
“This ranks right up there with our Central Regional title in 2005,” Gregory said. “I’ve never been more proud of a group of kids than I am right now and I’m especially proud for our senior Keith Guest. We came in here with a lot of confidence and we knew we were capable of finishing in the top 10, but to place second and go toe-to-toe with the top teams in the nation is really special.”
Georgia, the 36-hole leader, notched a nine-under 275 and claimed the regional title with a 41-under 811 effort. UC-Irvine, Mississippi State and UAB rounded out the top five while Auburn, Charlotte, East Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee and Virginia finished sixth through 10th to advance to Purdue.
UAB’s Zach Sucher and Georgia’s Russell Henley tied for medalist honors with a three-day total of 13-under 200, two shots in front of Norlander. UC-Irvine’s Sean Shahi was fourth at nine-under 204 and Georgia State’s Joel Sjoholm finished alone in fifth at eight-under 205.
Sjoholm and Virginia Tech’s Jurrian van der Vaart (seven-under 206) qualified individually for the NCAA Championships.
Notes: ASU was making its 10th NCAA Regional appearance in the last 11 years … The Jaguars were competing in the NCAA Regional for the 13th time in the last 16 years … The Jags, who entered the regional as the No. 17 seed in the 27-team field, were made an at-large selection on Monday, May 5 by the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee in Indianapolis, Ind…. Council Fire Golf Club is a Robert Cupp design that opened in 1992 … The Jags were making their first East Regional appearance since 2004 … ASU made three straight trips to the East Regional between 2002 and 2004 before being shipped to the Central Regional in 2005 and to the West Regional last season.
NCAA East Regional
Council Fire Golf Club
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Par 71 – 6,961 yards
May 15-17, 2008
Augusta State Individual Results
3. Henrik Norlander 65-70-67=202 -11
t17. Tarik Can 68-71-70=209 -4
t29. Keith Guest 70-71-70=211 -2
t38. Mitch Krywulycz 70-70-73=213 E
t65. Jake Amos 75-71-70=216 +3
Team Results
1. Georgia 265-271-275=811 -41
2. AUGUSTA STATE 273-282-277=832 -20
3. UC-Irvine 283-275-278=836 -16
4. Mississippi State 278-282-278=838 -14
5. UAB 287-274-278=839 -13
6. Auburn 281-277-282=840 -12
7. Charlotte 281-282-281=844 -8
8. East Tennessee State 286-283-276=845 -7
9. Middle Tennessee 278-286-282=846 -6
10. Virginia 286-287-276=849 -3
11. Michigan State 285-279-287=851 -1
12. Chattanooga 282-281-290=853 +1
New Mexico State 280-281-292=853 +1
14. North Carolina State 279-296-280=855 +3
15. Virginia Tech 281-291-286=858 +6
16. South Carolina 288-293-278=859 +7
17. Georgia State 287-286-288=861 +9
18. North Florida 293-288-281=862 +10
19. Duke 286-282-295=863 +11
20. Memphis 289-291-284=864 +12
Western Carolina 285-289-290=864 +12
22. Coastal Carolina 285-291-289=865 +13
23. SMU 276-295-295=866 +14
Colorado State 282-293-291=866 +14
25. Mississippi 293-291-287=871 +19
26. Western Illinois 293-292-290=875 +23
27. Jackson State 302-334-312=948 +96