University of Houston Athletics
Golf Ready to Tee Off at NCAA West Regional
5/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 17, 2006
TUCSON, Ariz. - The University of Houston golf team opens play at the 2006 NCAA West Regional beginning Thursday morning.
The Cougars are part of a 27-team, 141-player field on the 7,200-yard, par-72 course at Omni Tucson National Golf Club. The 54-hole event, which runs through Saturday, is scheduled to be played with 18 holes each day, starting at 9 a.m. (CDT).
Live scoring will be available on the Internet at www.golfstat.com.
The Cougars, who earned the No. 13 seed, join some of the nation's best collegiate teams in the field, including Florida, Arizona State, BYU, East Tennessee State, Baylor, Alabama, Arizona, San Diego State, North Carolina State, Washington, New Mexico, Stanford, Pepperdine, Louisville, Denver, Santa Clara, New Mexico State, Fresno State, UC Irvine, Nevada, San Diego, Cal Poly, Western Kentucky, Loyola Marymount, Jackson State and Bucknell.
The top 10 teams and top two individuals not on those teams will qualify for the 2006 NCAA Men's Golf Championships on May 31-June 3 at the Crosswater Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.
The Cougars will make their first appearance as a team in the NCAA postseason since the 2002 NCAA Central Regional. Cougar golfers Brett Callas (2003) and current senior Zach Mowbray (2004) qualified as individual players for their respective Regionals.
Under the leadership of head coach Vince Jarrett who will be making his first NCAA postseason appearance at the helm of the UH program, the Cougars enjoyed one of the most successful campaigns in recent history.
The Cougars rattled off four consecutive team championships to open the 2006 spring season, becoming the first team in more than two decades to accomplish that feat.
Junior Pablo Acuna won medalist honors at the Santa Anita/North Texas Classic (Feb. 19-20) in his first tournament of the spring season, while sophomore Jordan Irwin successfully defended his individual championship at the Palmetto Intercollegiate (March 13-14).
Acuna, who led the Cougars with a 72.0 scoring average, was named to the 2006 All-Conference USA First Team, while junior Ricky Romano garnered a spot on the All-Conference USA Second Team.
Mowbray finished fourth at the Santa Anita/North Texas Classic in his best finish of the season and currently ranks among UH's career leaders in rounds played and total strokes.
Fellow senior Kevin Newman also is slated to participate at the NCAA Regional and fired a UH-season-low-tying 67 during the opening round of the Louisiana Classics on March 13.
Players Mentioned
