The NCAA News - News and Features

May 12, 1997

Division I

Arizona State vying for rare repeat

Event: 1997 Division I Men's Golf Championships.

Overview: There hasn't been a repeat team champion in this event since Houston won back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1985. Arizona State is next in line to try. The Sun Devils led last year's tournament from wire to wire and return four of the five players who brought home the hardware, including Darren Angel, who tied for third overall. But it's last year's fifth man, Chris Hanell, who is this year's second-ranked golfer according to the College Golf Foundation's Rolex rankings. Hanell shot 74-68 to capture the Golf Digest Collegiate in March .... Arizona will get pressure, however, from regional challengers UNLV and Southern California. UNLV, the top-ranked team in Division I, features four golfers among the top 50. Gilberto Morales is ranked 10th; 25th-ranked Bill Lunde won the TaylorMade Big Island Intercollegiate. Ted Oh, who tied for 10th last year, also returns to help the Rebels try to top last year's runner-up finish .... Meanwhile, Southern California has won twice this year and will rely on Roger Tambellini, Chad Wright and Brian Hull to capture the Trojans' first team title .... Oklahoma State's second-ranked Cowboys won this event in 1995 and placed eighth last year. Coach Mike Holder's troops have won three tournaments this year and feature Bo VanPelt and Ed Loar, both ranked in the top eight .... Other contenders for the team crown include Clemson, Texas Christian, North Carolina, Arizona, Texas and Wake Forest. Top individuals returning include Rory Sabbatini of Arizona, Tim Clark of North Carolina State and Brad Elder of Texas.

Field: A total of 324 golfers representing nine districts will participate in three regionals to determine the championships field of 156 competitors.

Dates and sites: Three regionals will be conducted May 15-17 in the East (at the Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia; Virginia Tech, host), Central (University of Oklahoma Golf Course; Norman, Oklahoma), and West (Carlton Oaks Country Club, Santee, California; San Diego State, host) regions. The championships finals will be May 28-31 at Conway Farms in Evanston, Illinois, and will be hosted by Northwestern.

Television coverage: ESPN will provide live final-round coverage at 2 p.m. (Eastern time) May 31.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3066 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 5092 for first-round results, 5093 for second-round results, 5094 for third-round results and 5095 for final-round results. Individual and team results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Regional results will appear in the May 26 issue of The NCAA News. Championships results will appear in the June 9 issue of The NCAA News.