On the way to the Big 12 tournament three weeks ago in Hutchinson, Kansas, the Texas Tech men’s golf team stopped in Norman, Oklahoma, to play the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.
Well aware the Sooners’ course would be one of six sites hosting NCAA regionals in May, Texas Tech coach Greg Sands thought it would be worth his players’ time to see it.
Sure enough, the Red Raiders wound up being named the top seed for the NCAA Norman Regional. They’re one of 14 teams who, on Monday, begin the 54-hole tournament.
“I had the idea that maybe we’d get selected there based on the rankings,” Sands said, “so we decided on the way up to Big 12 to stop and play. The weather was tough. It was blowing 30 from the north .
“We may not get those kind of conditions, so it may not help totally like the conditions we’re going to see, but It always helps seeing the golf course, seeing the lines off the tee and picking up a few things here and there .”
All six NCAA regionals are scheduled from Monday through Wednesday. Each regional has either 13 or 14 teams, from which five teams and the lowest-scoring individual not on those teams will qualify for the NCAA championship tournament May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Starting in 2002, Tech has made 21 consecutive regional appearances under Sands, not counting the Covid-cancelled 2020 postseason, and is trying to advance out of regional for the 11th time in that time frame. Now a goal is to regularly reach the final eight of the NCAA championship field. The Red Raiders have done it three times under Sands, losing match-play quarterfinals to Florida State in 2010, Alabama in 2018 and Vanderbilt last year.
“The number is about like basketball: You’ve got to be in the top 64,” Sands said. “In that aspect, in some ways that hasn’t been too difficult to have 21 straight (appearances). We’re really kind of looking to maybe get that next level of can we make that (final) eight a little bit more. We’ve made it three times, and we’d like to almost make that a tradition. … If you do that, I think we can hang a big banner, which would be the ultimate goal.”
Tech players will tee off from 8 am to 8:44 am Monday with a lineup of Ludvig Aberg, Calum Scott, Tyran Snyders, Jack Wall and Matthew Comegys.
In eight tournaments this school year, Aberg has three victories, three other top-five finishes and has finished no lower than tied for eighth.
The senior from Sweden won the Ben Hogan Award last year as the top player in college golf and is one of three finalists for the trophy again this year. He’s No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, No. 1 in the PGA Tour University ranking and won the Big 12 individual for the second year in a row, breaking the tournament records for lowest total score and strokes in relation to par.
“I’m thinking, I wish I had another year with him,” Sands said. “He’s a special kid.”
College golf
What: NCAA Norman Regional
When: Monday through Wednesday
Where: Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, Norman, Oklahoma
Teams in order of seeding: Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, Wake Forest, Duke, LSU, North Florida, Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina-Wilmington, Louisiana-Lafayette, Princeton, Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Teams in Golfweek top 50: 8. Texas Tech, 9. Oklahoma, 16. Alabama, 22. Wake Forest, 23. Mississippi, 25. Duke, 38. LSU, 42. North Florida.
Format: 54 holes of stroke play. Top five teams and lowest-scoring individual not on those teams advance to NCAA championship tournament.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Ready for liftoff: Red Raiders begin NCAA postseason as No. 1 regional seed