MGOLF CENTRAL: NCAA Columbus Regional

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee will participate in its 23rd NCAA Regional in program history on May 14-16, traveling to Columbus, Ohio, and competing as the No. 8 seed.

The bid is the Vols' 17thin 20 seasons under the direction of head coach Jim Kelson.

The Regional will be played at OSU Golf Club's Scarlet Course, a par-71, 7,364-yard layout. Tennessee will tee off Monday at 8:25 a.m. ET for the first day of competition, beginning on hole one and paired with seventh-seeded Penn State and ninth-seeded Louisville.

Tee times for the second and third days of play will be determined by the results of rounds one and two.

A total of 30 teams, five from each of the six regional sites, and six individuals will advance to the national championships, scheduled for May 25-30 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. Tennessee is looking for its 17th all-time appearance at the national championships, eighth under Kelson and first since 2013.

Of the 13 teams participating in the Columbus Regional, eight are ranked inside Golfstat's top 50 teams, including No. 1 Oklahoma State. The tournament also features 11 individuals ranked inside the top 50 best individual stroke averages in Division I.

Tennessee is coming off a ninth-place finish at the SEC Championship in which it missed match play by one position.

Senior Lorenzo Scalise continues a standout senior season, earning a share of third place at the SEC tourney, carding a 3-under 207 (67-72-68) over the course of 54 holes.

Despite all 14 SEC teams qualifying for the NCAA field, Tennessee is the only SEC school in the Columbus Regional.

Tennessee's Lineup

NCAA Columbus Regional Seedings
            1. Oklahoma State
            2. Illinois
            3. Texas Tech
            4. UNLV
            5. Wake Forest
            6. Northwestern
            7. Penn State
            8. Tennessee
            9. Louisville
            10. Jacksonville
            11. Michigan State
            12. Yale
            13. Cleveland State

Tennessee's History at NCAA Regionals

The Vols are making their first appearance in the NCAA Regionals since 2016, when they charted an 11th-place finish at the Stillwater Regional.
Tennessee senior Lorenzo Scalise is the lone player on the Vols' young roster with NCAA experience. In 2016, Scalise led the Big Orange at the Stillwater Regional with a tie for a 10th-place finish in which he carded a 7-over 223.
This postseason's appearance at the Columbus Regional marks the first by the Vols at that site since 2008. That year, Tennessee finished 11th out of 27 teams.
The Vols last advanced to the NCAA Finals in 2013 after placing fourth at the Palo Alto Regional. Tennessee went on to tie for 19th place at the NCAA Championship in Atlanta, Ga.

Scalise Leading Vols With Historic Season

Vols senior Lorenzo Scalise, currently averaging 70.00 strokes per round, is on pace to set the Tennessee single-season scoring average record, which is presently held by David Skinns at 71.87.
Scalise closed out his strong spring campaign with his first career win at the Yale Spring Invitational followed by a tie for third-place at the SEC Championship. His performance at the SEC Championship marked his ninth career top-five finish, while his two rounds under par brought his season total in that category to a team-leading 24.
He now has seven top-five efforts in 2017-18, including the past five tournaments he has played.
Scalise enters the NCAA Regional with the sixth-best stroke average of any of the competing golfers, and 13th best among all Division I golfers.
Scalise leads Tennessee in several categories, including percentage of rounds counted (96.55), rounds in the 60s (14) and average strokes per round (70.00 overall, 69.45 in the spring).

Nevin, Garrison Coming On Strong

Sophomores Rhys Nevin and Brayden Garrison both ended the regular season and began the postseason on a high note, each taking top-five finishes at the Yale Spring Invitational to help Tennessee to a first-place team finish, and then each finishing in the top 35 at the SEC Championship.
Nevin's improvement of 34 places from the 2017 SEC Championship (in which he placed 68th) was the best improvement of any Vol from the previous season at the event. The sophomore from Cheshire, England, has recorded three top-five finishes this season and his 71.92 stroke average this season is the second-best mark on the team.
Garrison, Tennessee's second-highest finisher at the SEC Championship (tied for 30th), has also been a force for the Vols this season. Garrison's stroke average of 72.63 is good for third on the team, while his 13 rounds of par or better are the second most on the team.

Several Vols Have Improved Numbers From Last Season

Four Vols have improved their stroke averages from last season, while Tennessee as a team has also improved its results.
As a team, the Vols have improved their average strokes per tournament each of the past two seasons, as well as improving last season's average finish of 7.8 to this season's average finish of fifth place.
Tennessee has also increased its number of team rounds of par or better (10 to 13), team top-five finishes (two to seven) and team top-three finishes (two to four).
Rhys Nevin: 74.22 last season to 71.92 this season (improvement of 2.30 strokes).
Brayden Garrison: 75.00 last season to 72.63 this season (improvement of 2.37 strokes).
Lorenzo Scalise: 72.17 last season to 70.00 this season (improvement of 2.17 strokes).
Jake Meenhorst: 74.07 last season to 73.21 this season (improvement of 0.86 strokes).

More On The Vols

Tennessee's freshmen trio of Sean Wilcox (redshirt freshman), Spencer Cross, and Chase Roswall have continued a strong inaugural campaign, with 19 rounds of par or better and five top-10 finishes between them. The freshmen have also had combined 62 percent of their rounds counted during the fall and spring seasons and tallied a combined 11 rounds in the 60s.
Three Vols are among the top 250 in the Golfweek Men's Collegiate Individual Rankings: Lorenzo Scalise (13th, 69.16 rating), Rhys Nevin (129th, 71.08), Brayden Garrison (242nd, 71.83).
Tennessee head coach Jim Kelson is aided by third-year director of instruction/player development Sean Pacetti.

NCAA Columbus Regional Golfers in Division I Top 50 Players' Scoring
            4. Shintaro Ban, UNLV (69.33)
            5. Fredrik Nilehn, Texas Tech (69.38)
            8. Cameron Young, Wake Forest (69.75)
            10. Viktor Hovland, Oklahoma State (69.81)
            12. Matthew Wolff, Oklahoma State (69.97)
            13. Lorenzo Scalise, Tennessee (70.00)
            T18. Raul Pereda, Jacksonville (70.20)
            23. Kyle Mueller, Michigan (70.32)
            24. Nick Hardy, Illinois (70.32)
            46. Zach Bauchou, Oklahoma State (70.76)
            49. Dylan Meyer, Illinois (70.79)

Additional Information

Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com.
For the most up-to-date information about the Tennessee men's golf team, visit the tournament central page on UTsports.com, follow @Vol_Golf on Twitter and like the Vols at Facebook.com/TennesseeMensGolf.

University of Tennessee Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Spencer Cross

Brayden Garrison

Jake Meenhorst

Rhys Nevin

Chase Roswall

Lorenzo Scalise

Sean Wilcox

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