Penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct currently in effect for the Divisions I and III Men's Golf Championships also will be available for future Division II Men's Golf Championships.

The Division II Men's Golf Committee adopted the measure at it recent annual meeting in San Diego. Division II golf committee members in the past had dealt with incidences of misconduct on a case-by-case basis, but they agreed that a uniform policy would be a better management tool.

The new rule calls for a warning for a first violation and a two-stroke penalty for a second. Unsporting conduct could include a student-athlete using vulgar or profane language, or throwing a club during competition. The committee reserves the right to assess the two-stroke penalty on the first occurrence if the act is egregious or flagrant.

Committee members also talked about future championships, including the 2006 event at the Glade Springs Resort in Daniels, West Virginia. Committee member Will Prewitt of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which along with Concord University will host the event, told the group that he hopes to be able to attract enough volunteers and contributors to provide tournament upgrades such as standard bearers and on-course leaderboards.

The committee also recommended five regional sites for the Division II Championships Committee's consideration in September.

Members also recommended to the Championships Committee that regional team champions and medalists should receive trophies. That recommendation is part of a division-wide request for individual/team sports.

In other actions, the committee:

• Agreed to conduct the coaches meeting in conjunction with the pre-championships banquet. The meeting previously was held separately.

• Lauded 2005 championships host Armstrong Atlantic University and the Club of Savannah (Georgia) Harbor for their work in preparing the course for competition despite inclement weather. The first round was hampered by a two-hour rain delay that backed up play for the rest of the tournament, but committee members thought course conditions were more than up to par for all four rounds.

• Recommended that the date formula for championships beginning with the 2007 tournament be changed to the third full week in May, with competition being held Tuesday through Friday. The change prevents the Division II championship from being conducted the same week as the Division III tournament.

• Required that to be eligible for championships selection, teams must participate in a minimum of 12 rounds per year, with at least six conducted in the spring segment.

• Implemented a rule requiring golfers to play only one brand of ball during a round.