Men's golf to begin play in NCAA Athens Regional

Monday, May 13

Athens, Ga.

11:25 a.m.

University of Memphis

2019 NCAA Regional

Chase Harris is one of three golfers who has played in all 11 events this season.

Photo by: Ben Solomon/American Athletic Co

May 10, 2019 | Men's Golf

Tigers are in the postseason for the seventh time since 2008

By: Phil Stukenborg

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis enters regional play Monday in the 2019 NCAA Division 1 Men's Golf Championships in an enviable position. The Tigers are participating in the Athens (Ga.) Regional as American Athletic Conference champions.

Memphis earned its spot – its first trip to the regionals since 2016 – by claiming a 12-stroke victory in last month's conference championship at Palm Harbor, Fla. The Tigers won their first league title as an AAC member to grab the automatic berth. Memphis shot even-par 852 in Florida to outdistance runner-up SMU.

"You want to be hot going in and we are coming off a win and there are only so many people who can say that," Smart said. "To get in as an at-large (entry) would (have been) great, that means you probably had a really good year. But coming in as a conference champion, in a league like ours, puts us in a great spot to be confident."

Memphis will be part of a 13-team regional that includes top seed Vanderbilt and No. 2 seed Duke. Georgia is seeded third, Alabama is fifth, Kentucky eighth and Memphis 11^th. The Tigers are one of four league champions in the regional.

The Tigers must finish as one of the region's low-five scoring teams to advance to the NCAA Championships May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.

Athens will be one of six sites playing to host to 54-hole regional tournaments -- all held May 13-15 and all including 13 teams and selected individuals not on those teams.

Memphis will be led by Bradley Bawden, Chase Harris and Isaiah Jackson, each of whom has participated in the team's 11 fall and spring events. Bawden owns the lowest scoring average (71.5), followed by Jackson (72.2).

Like his coach, Bawden is expecting the success the team enjoyed at the AAC Championship to have an effect in Athens.

"At the conference championship we really played solid golf from the first guy to the fifth guy," Bawden said. "We all feel pretty confident and we're working pretty hard."

Bawden finished third at the AAC Championship with a 54-hole total of 5-under 208. Harris tied for fifth (212) and Jackson finished tied for 12^th (217).

As a team, the Tigers had three Top 5 finishes in the spring, but no titles.

"We've been right there all year long, we just couldn't really get it done (to win a tournament)," Jackson said. "To come to the conference championship and just play really solid golf – not just one person carried us, but the entire team – it's awesome."

2019 NCAA Division 1 Men's Golf Championships

Event: NCAA Athens Regional
When: May 13-15
Where: University of Georgia Golf Course, Athens, Ga.
Par: 71
Yardage: 7,253
Live Scoring: Golfstat
Teams in the Field (in order of seed): Vanderbilt, Duke, Georgia, Liberty, Alabama, Tennessee, Campbell, Kentucky, Nevada, SMU, Memphis, UNC-Wilmington and Princeton.
Notes: This is the UofM's seventh regional appearance since 2008. The program's last trip to the NCAA Championship round came in 2012 when the Tigers advanced out of the Bowling Green Regional. . . . If senior Bradley Bawden maintains his 71.5-stroke average, he will establish a single-season program record.