University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols to Compete in NCAA Golf Championships
May 31, 2005 | Men's Golf
May 31, 2005
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The 12th-ranked Tennessee men's golf team will be competing in the 2005 NCAA Championships at Caves Valley Golf Club in Baltimore, Md., June 1-4. This marks the first time since 2003 the Vols have competed in the finals.
Tennessee enters the tournament with an overall record of 118-49-3 (.703) and a Southeastern Conference record of 27-17-2 (.630). The Vols are coming off a second-place finish at the East Regional, which was their highest regional finish in program history.
UT joins five fellow conference members in the tournament. Also from the SEC are No. 21 Alabama, Arkansas, No. 6 Florida, No. 2 Georgia, and No. 11 Kentucky.
Other teams competing in the tournament include: No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 4 UNLV, No. 5 New Mexico, No. 7 Augusta State, No. 9 Duke, No. 13 Brigham Young, No. 14 Wake Forest, No. 15 Arizona State, No. 16 UCLA, No. 17 Georgia Southern, No. 18 Southern California, No. 20 Texas, No. 23 Arizona, No. 24 Washington, No. 25 Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, Missouri, Purdue, San Diego State, Southern Methodist, Stanford, Texas A&M and Tulsa.
For the first and second rounds Tennessee is paired with the second place finishers from the Central and West Regionals. Oklahoma State took second in the Central, while New Mexico was runner-up in the West.
Leading the Vols into the finals in the one position is senior David Skinns. Skinns, who recently claimed the SEC individual championship, leads the team in scoring average with a 72.13 through 11 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 72.62. The second team All-SEC selection led the team at the regional with a fifth place finish. He also 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).
Competing in the third position is senior John Scott Rattan. Rattan made a major contribution at the regional, finishing tied for eighth for his best performance of the season. He also has another top-10 finish for the year at the Bank of Tennessee/Ridges Intercollegiate (10th-t), and has a scoring average of 74.65.
Freshman Philip Pettitt is in the fourth position with a scoring average of 73.88. Pettitt opened his collegiate career in grand fashion by claiming medallist honors at the Bank of Tennessee/Ridges Intercollegiate.
Rounding out the Tennessee contingent in the fifth spot is freshman Ben Spickard. Spickard has a scoring average of 76.08 with his highest finish coming at the Hyatt Plantation Club Intercollegiate in 50th. He was also a solid contributor at the regional posting his best 54-hole score of the season (224).
The Vols have competed in the championships nine previous times. The last time the Orange and White competed was 2003, when the team finished 23rd. Tennessee's highest finish came in 1980 when it finished sixth.
In 1988, Tom Carr competed as an individual, finishing runner-up. That marks the highest finish for a Vol individual in the finals.
Players Mentioned
