STATS/NOTES |
SCORING |
PAIRINGS |
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL |
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA GOLF
CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs men's golf team is back on the national stage as a team heading to the NCAA Auburn Regionals. The guys tee off Monday on a 3-day trek to
join NCAA Raleigh Regionals Champion Dorota Zalewska in the American southwest for the NCAA Championships Finals.
The 13-team, 75-player field takes on Auburn University Club with 18 holes per day Monday-Wednesday. It's the 13th NCAA Tournament bid in program history, ninth as a team. It's the first team entry since the 2014 Eugene Regionals in Oregon.
"The guys have earned this opportunity," Coach Blaine Woodruff said. "It's not easy just to get to this point, these guys have worked hard, have come together as a team, and have gotten us one step closer to Grayhawk."
"But that's not our focus. Most people think you have to be perfect at Regionals. That's really not the case, and that's what Coach Rob (Nick Robinson) and I have preached to our guys this week. We do have to be very good at controlling what we can control and competing. That's our focus for the week and wherever that stacks us up result wise at the end then so be it, we can live with it."
The Mocs have made the next step four times. The first and last – Neil Connolly (1993) and Chris Robb (2014) – were as individuals. The team advanced in 2009 from Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., and again in 2012 winning the NCAA Bowling Green Regionals behind individual winner and current PGA Tour pro Stephan Jaeger '12. Woodruff is no stranger to the postseason with four entries as an assistant at Pepperdine reaching the finals three times including winning in 2021 and finishing in the Final FORE in 2022.
Chattanooga is the No. 8 seed at Auburn ranked No. 48 in the country per Golfstat. Junior
Paul Conroy is the only one with NCAA Division I Tournament experience earning an individual berth in 2022 at the Norman Regionals.
Samuel Espinosa (King) and
John Houk (Tennessee Wesleyan) have strong national postseason experience as well at the NCAA DII and NAIA levels, respectively. Sophomores
Garrett Engle and
Braedon Wear are in their first postseasons as is senior
Alex Cobb who is serving as alternate.
The Mocs open play at 9:55 a.m., Eastern Time, Monday morning playing with TCU and Houston. Scoring and pairings, when available, are linked above along with a comprehensive stats/notes package including history in the NCAA Tournament on pages 5-6.
NCAA Championships - Auburn Regionals
May 15-17 (Mon-Wed) | Auburn, Ala. | 54 holes (18 per day)
Keep an eye on…
- Paul Conroy (70.97), John Houk (71.12) & Samuel Espinosa (71.52) are vying for Stephan Jaeger's school season scoring record of 71.14. To better Jaeger's effort, Conroy needs to shoot 218, Houk aim at 213 and Espinosa 200.
- 73 under for the campaign. No Mocs squad has completed an under par season. Closest was 9 over in 2007-08. The school record for scoring average of 286.47 was set then. The Mocs need to shoot 941 or better to set the new standard while currently sitting at 283.97.
- Three Mocs are par or better so far: Conroy (-19), Houk (-14) & Espinosa (-1). Garrett Engle (+9) is not far off the pace. Only three such seasons in program history - Jonathan Hodge '09 (-9, 2007-08) & Stephan Jaeger '12 (-1, 2010-11 & -22, '11-12).
Lineup
9:55 am –
Samuel Espinosa: 71.52
10:06 am –
Garrett Engle: 71.89
10:17 am –
John Houk: 71.12
10:28 am –
Braedon Wear: 72.67
10:39 am –
Paul Conroy: 70.97
Alternate: Alec Cobb: 73.00
Course
University Cub | Par 72 | 7,591 yards
Field
(13 teams + 10 Individuals):
(48) Chattanooga, (1) Vanderbilt, (12) Tennessee, (13) Auburn, (24) Colorado State, (25) Ohio State, (36) Washington, (37) TCU, (49) Houston, (60) Marquette, (62) Indiana, (124) Augusta, (234) Siena
History
Team Finishes (13 appearances)
Win (1): 2012
Advance (4): 1993 (Neil Connolly), 2009, 2012, 2014 (Chris Robb)
Medalists (1)
2012: Stephan Jaeger – 70-67-66=203 (-13)
Top 5s (4)
1993: T5, Neil Connolly – 70-74-69=213
2012: 1, Stephan Jaeger – 70-67-66=203 (-13)
2012: T3, Steven Fox – 76-64-71=211 (-5)
2014: T4, Chris Robb – 67-72-73=212 (+2)
Live Scoring
Golfstat
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