Pacific Golf Earns Berth Into The NCAA Regionals

Stockton, Calif. - On the back of a strong 2010-11 season, the Pacific golf team earned a berth into the NCAA tournament as the Tigers will head to the San Diego Regional as the No. 11 seed. The Tigers will head to the tournament for the first time since the 2001-02 season when Pacific played its way all the way to the championship rounds. This will be the Tigers' 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

"This means a lot to the program. It's been a long time coming. It began six years ago," said head coach Brandon Goethals who is in his sixth season at the helm of the program.

The Tigers will head to San Diego Regional from May 19-21 where they will play at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. The Tigers will be joined by 12 other teams from around the country as they play for a spot in the NCAA championship rounds. Heading to San Diego are: (1) UCLA, (2) Texas, (3) USC, (4) San Diego, (5) Ohio St., (6) UNLV, (7) North Texas, (8) Middle Tennessee, (9) Tulsa, (10) SMU, (12) San Francisco, (13) Cleveland State.

With six regional sites, the top five teams from each regional will advance to the championships rounds in Stillwater, Okla. The 30 teams will square off at Karsten Creek Golf Course from May 31-June 5.

When asked on what it meant to make the postseason Goethals stated, "to come as far as we have and to have the opportunity with my first recruiting class to be able to go to a regional championships is important. This is a tradition we look to continue as we move forward."

"We'll work on the same things we've been working on all year, speed on the greens, being smart, leaving the ball underneath the hole," said Goethals when asked about how the Tigers will prepare. "At the Farms Golf Club in San Diego, it's all about the greens and where you leave the ball. If we can go down there and be patient and trust our games, we've got a good chance."

This season, the Tigers have proven to be a team to be reckoned with as Pacific has taken home six straight top-4 finishes including grabbing the 2010 Pacific Invitational tournament title. Individually, Pacific has a pair of first place finishes with T.J. Bordeaux winning the Pacific Invitational while Alex Johnson won the Fresno State Lexus Classic. The Tigers also finished second at the Big West Championships on May 3 with senior Patrick Kucich finishing in a tie for fourth overall.