Over the years, the Division I Men's Golf Committee has tried just about everything to provide the best championship experience for the entire field while carrying out its primary function of determining the most deserving team champion. That may sound like a simple mission until you factor in weather, course conditions and the challenges that come from shepherding 156 golfers through an 18-hole maze in as much time as daylight will allow.

To protect the integrity of the dramatic final round without compromising the championship experience for other participants, the committee typically has relied on trimming the field to the top 15 teams at some point in the four-round tournament to unclutter the course for the finish. A 54-hole cut was established beginning with the 1979 championship, but that was tightened to a 36-hole trim in 1992. The committee grew to believe that was overly restrictive, however, and voted to eliminate the cut altogether in 2002. What happened in 2002 and 2003, though, brought committee members back to the table, where they decided on a 54-hole cut for the 2004 championships and beyond.

The 2002 championship at Ohio State University's renowned Scarlet Course produced the best and worst of the no-cut option. The best was that the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, became the no-cut poster child when it rallied from 16th place after 36 holes -- meaning the Gophers would not have made the 15-team cut just a year earlier -- to win the team title. The worst was that persistent storms and tough course conditions produced six-hour rounds that for some golfers ended at 9 p.m. That prompted the committee to send the leaders off first for the final round to ensure that the championship could be completed before approaching downpours washed out the field. But the weather held, meaning Minnesota won the title early in the afternoon while teams that had little chance to place high in the standings completed their rounds in relative anonymity.

In 2003, Clemson University enjoyed the dramatic finish Minnesota missed, but only because of an unscheduled cut that some coaches considered to be out of bounds. Though weather wasn't a factor, the tough layout at Oklahoma State University's Karsten Creek once again produced slow play. Committee members worried that the final round would have to be completed in less-than-optimal conditions or even suspended -- and they didn't want to do what they did with Minnesota -- so they used their authority to cut the field after the third round. That prompted a dramatic final day but it also changed travel plans for the many disgruntled competitors and coaches who had counted on playing 72 holes.

Thus in a tale of two championships, the committee had experienced the best and worst of times.

"Our role is to determine a national champion," said Oral Roberts University Athletics Director Mike Carter, whose term as committee chair ended in September. "Certainly it's important to all of our coaches and student-athletes to be able to get the best experience possible, but we invoked our administrative right to implement a cut last year because we felt it was in the best interests of the tournament."

Deciding on 54

What happened in 2003 seemingly brought the cut issue to the fore. Committee members spent the better part of their annual summer meeting figuring out the future.

"We looked at having no cut at all, or having one after 36 holes or after 54 holes," Carter said. "We decided that the 54-hole cut was the best. There's no question that cutting after 36 is too soon -- Minnesota is the prime example. But a team in 16th place after 54 holes is not likely to make up that much ground in just one round. They may go from 16th to 10th, but again, we're there to determine the national champion."

Committee member Randy Lein, men's golf coach at Arizona State University, said coaches' sentiment historically has depended upon which side of the cut they were on. In other words, teams unaccustomed to competing in the tournament would want to enjoy the whole four-round experience. Perennial championship contenders, though, would probably prefer to be cut if they weren't vying for the top prize.

"If you're one of those teams cut after 54 holes, you'd probably advocate for no cut. If you're a team that has made the cut, then having had one just makes that final day easier on everyone," Lein said.

Lein added it might be tempting for opponents of a 54-hole cut to argue that one round still provides enough of a rally window. "But our counter-argument is that you've had three rounds to position yourself and it hasn't happened. We're trying to crown a national champion, and we want it to be a great experience for those people -- your student-athletes have played three rounds and have had that opportunity."

Fred Warren, committee member and men's golf coach at East Tennessee State University, noted that the 54-hole format is what teams are accustomed to playing throughout the regular season, too. He said moving the cut from 36 holes to 54 at the finals doesn't shortchange expectations.

Warren also said the cut creates its own drama. He said Golfstat, the collegiate game's official score and statistic tracker, receives a huge amount of traffic on cut day, almost as much as during the final round. Warren said under the circumstances, coaches he's heard from understand the committee's decision.

"The feedback I've received is that while everyone would like to play 72 holes, the 54-hole cut probably is the best solution for administering the championship," he said.

36-hole history

Though the cut after 36 holes was in place for more than a decade, concern mounted over not giving real contenders enough of a chance to assert themselves. In 1995, for example, Auburn, Kansas and Tennessee were eliminated after tying for 16th after 36 holes, just 11 strokes off the pace set by second-round leader Stanford. Auburn also had Chip Spratlin, who had at least a share of the lead from wire to wire in winning the individual title. Some people at that championship thought Auburn could have won the team title, too, if there had not been a cut.

But the 36-hole cut was committee-friendly in that it allowed plenty of wiggle room for weather delays, a frequent occurrence in the May and June tournaments. The format also ensured that every team would be treated equally as far as tee times were concerned -- each team would get one early tee time and one late tee time. Though it was luck of the draw as to whether weather would be more favorable in the morning or afternoon on a given day, proponents of the 36-hole cut argued that the randomness only would be exacerbated by moving to a 54-hole cut.

But Warren said he rationalized that coaches probably would prefer taking their chances with a bad tee time over going home.

"With a 54-hole cut," Warren said, "we're saying that instead of cutting you, you get another 18 holes and your tee time that third day is predicated on your performance in the first two rounds."

Another reason people supported the 36-hole cut was that it's done that way on the professional tour. But other coaches maintain that's an apples-and-oranges comparison. Carter said the pros aren't counting four of five scores on a team like colleges do.

"To be cut when you're 10 or 12 shots behind as an individual -- after 36 holes the likelihood of that individual coming back is slim," Carter said. "But in college it can change so much more quickly."

Gregg Grost, executive director of the Golf Coaches Association of America and former head coach at the University of Oklahoma, said his membership completed a survey on the cut issue several years ago and responses were all over the board.

"The GCAA is not in a position of making a statement on behalf of all its members because the membership is divided," Grost said. "Our national advisory board has said it would support the decisions made by the NCAA golf committee members if they felt that was in the best interests of the championship.

"Our advisory board, which includes two former NCAA golf committee chairs, understands not only how the decision was made to re-implement the cut, but it understands the mathematics of the tee times, the size of the field and the nuances of the championship. The reason the championship is played is to determine a champion. Everything else is on the side."

The "everything else" Grost referred to includes a couple of ancillary benefits from placing well in the national championship. Some high-profile regular-season tournaments base invitations on team finishes in the previous year's national championship. Some equipment providers may even provide discounts to a team that finished well the year before. That's an incentive for coaches to support having no cut at all.

Best of both worlds

"As an athletics director, I understand the importance of those things, but you don't want to risk the integrity of the event because of focusing too much on a system that determines who finishes 18th, 19th and 20th," Carter said. "We're there for determining a national champion, not for protecting the side benefits."

Grost said in a perfect world, all 156 players would play all 72 holes, have good weather conditions and complete their rounds in four hours and 20 minutes. "Unfortunately," he said, "with 156 players and the fact that you're conducting the championships at a stormy time of year, that doesn't always work. It's unfortunate that you can't have everyone play all four rounds, but it does not make good sense to do so."

"Thirty teams and 156 players is a lot, and if you have weather problems, it's a logistical nightmare," Lein said. "There's no perfect way to do it. If you asked 50 coaches, you'd get 50 opinions."

But Lein and his colleagues keep coming back to the committee's primary purpose of determining a true national champion. Lein believes the 54-hole cut provides the best of both worlds -- it keeps a Minnesota in play without compromising the pace and drama of the final round.

"The 36-hole cut was too severe because so much can happen in that final 36 holes," he said. "If you do not have a cut, though, then you open yourself up to a lot of potential problems. The 54-hole cut we felt was the most realistic. You have three rounds to position yourself for winning the championship. At that point, if you're not one of the top 15 then maybe it's not going to happen."

He emphasized, too, that the committee has expanded championship opportunities recently by increasing the field at the three regionals.

"Everyone has an equal opportunity to play their way in through the regionals. Once you're at the nationals we want to do everything to ensure that the national champion is the deserving champion," he said.

"I learned early on even when I had teams that weren't very competitive that the committee is there to crown a true national champion, not to accommodate teams 25 through 27."

And current committee members believe the 54-hole cut is the best way to achieve that directive.