May 8, 2006

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State received a bid to the NCAA Men's Golf Regional for the eighth straight year when the Aztecs were selected to participate in the West Regional, May 18-20, at the Omni Tucson (Ariz.) National Golf Club, the NCAA announced on Monday.

San Diego State will be the eighth-seeded team out of 27 in the West Regional, hosted by the University of Arizona. SDSU is among 81 NCAA Division I schools selected to play in one of three regional tournaments. The other regionals will take place concurrently in Orlando, Fla. (Central Regional) and Chardon, Ohio (East Regional) and will also include 27 teams and six individual qualifiers each.

The tournament will consist of 54 holes over a three-day period with 18 holes played each day. The top 10 teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from each regional to the championship finals to be held at the Crosswater Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. The national championship will be conducted May 31-June 3. Joining the Aztecs in the West Regional are (listed by seed), Florida, Arizona State, Brigham Young, East Tennessee State, Baylor, Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina State, Washington, New Mexico, Stanford, Houston, Pepperdine, Louisville, Denver, Santa Clara, New Mexico State, Fresno State, UC Irvine, Nevada, San Diego, Cal Poly, Western Kentucky, Loyola Marymount, Jackson State and Bucknell.

The Aztecs are making their 11th appearance in the tournament since the field was expanded to include regional tournaments in 1989 and will be looking to advance to the national tournament for the 19th time in school history. SDSU has advanced to the national championship three times (1999, 2003 and 2005) since the regional format debuted.

The Aztecs recently played the course that will serve as the host for the national championship. In its most recent tournament, San Diego State took second place at the Mountain West Conference Championships, which were held at the Sunriver Resort. Senior Andrew Scott, who earned all-conference accolades, finished second individually carding a 54-hole score of even-par. As a team the Aztecs finished the tournament at 6-over-par, five strokes behind league champion New Mexico.