University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Golfers Set to Compete in 2005 NCAA East Regional
May 17, 2005 | Men's Golf
May 17, 2005
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The 13th-ranked Tennessee men's golf team is set to make the program's sixth straight trip to the post season, as it was invited to compete in the NCAA East Regional, May 19-21, at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Nashville. The Vols enter the tournament as the sixth seed with an overall record of 93-48-3 (.656), and an SEC record of 23-17-2 (.571).
Tennessee's region features eight teams from the Golfweek top 25. The seeding for the 27-team event is as follows: No. 1 Georgia (second in the nation), No. 2 Georgia Tech (third in the nation), No. 3 Florida (seventh in the nation), No. 4 Duke (10th in the nation), No. 5 Wake Forest (16th in the nation), No. 6 Tennessee (13th in the nation), No. 7 Georgia Southern (15th in the nation), No. 8 Alabama (22nd in the nation), No. 9 Clemson, No. 10 Georgia State, No. 11 Coastal Carolina, No. 12 East Tennessee State, No. 13 Indiana, No. 14 Central Florida, No. 15 North Carolina, No. 16 Louisville, No. 17 Virginia, No. 18 Vanderbilt, No. 19 Charlotte, No. 20 Penn State, No. 21 North Carolina at Wilmington, No. 22 Towson, No. 23 Rhode Island, No. 24 Rutgers, No. 25 Maryland, No. 26 Army and No. 27 Boston College.
Leading the Vols into the regional in the one position is senior David Skinns. Skinns, who recently claimed the SEC individual championship, leads the team in scoring average with a 72.41 through 10 tournaments. He also received first-team All-SEC honors for the third time in his Volunteer career. Along with the SEC title he has three other top 10 finishes coming at the Gary Koch/Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate (7th), the Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions (8th-t) and the Bank of Tennessee/Ridges Intercollegiate (10th-t).
Senior Ross McGowan anchors the No. 2 spot. McGowan is second on the team in scoring average with a 73.12. The second team All-SEC selection recorded three consecutive top 10 finishes during the season at the Ashworth Collegiate Invitational (2nd), the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational (3rd-t) and Courtyard by Marriott Intercollegiate (8th-t).
Freshman Philip Pettitt is in the third position with a scoring average of 73.83. Pettitt opened his collegiate career in grand fashion by claiming medallist honors at the Bank of Tennessee/Ridges Intercollegiate.
Competing in the fourth position is senior John Scott Rattan. Rattan, who has one top-10 finish for the year at the Bank of Tennessee/Ridges Intercollegiate (10th-t), has a scoring average of 75.55.
Rounding out the Tennessee contingent in the fifth spot is freshman Ben Spickard. Spickard has a scoring average of 76.56 with his highest finish coming at the Hyatt Plantation Club Intercollegiate in 50th.
Tennessee has competed in 12 previous regionals, with its highest finish coming during the 2002-03 season in fourth place. The Vols turned in a scorecard of 281-291-291--863 to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1997.
The top 10 teams from each of the three regionals, plus the top two individuals whose team is not among the top 10, qualify for the Championships, which will be held June 1-4 at Caves Valley Golf Course in Baltimore, Md.
Players Mentioned
