NEW HAVEN, Conn.; May 22, 2004 - The Penn State men's golf team completed one of the greatest performances in program history today by finishing in second place in the 27-team field NCAA East Regional. The Nittany Lions, who entered the regional as the No. 19 seed, beat seven Top 20 teams to earn their first berth in the NCAA Championships since 1996.
The top 10 teams and top two individuals from other schools advance to the NCAA Championships, June 1-4 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.
Penn State, which led No. 1 Florida by one stroke entering today's final round, shot a seven-over 287 for a three-day total of 862 (290-285-287), +22 on the Par 70 The Course at Yale. Clemson, ranked No. 2 in the nation and the defending national champion, shot a three-under 277 today to win the regional crown with an 856 total, +16.
"It was just an enormous effort," said Penn State head coach Greg Nye. "We had played well at the Big Tens and last weekend at the Maxwell and just continued to play even better this weekend. When the pressure was on, we got better. After finishing the first round in fifth place, we proved we were more than up to the task on Friday and again today. We beat some great programs head-to-head. We're excited to be returning to the NCAA finals."
The Nittany Lions were led by junior Greg Pieczynski (Kingston, Pa.), who shot a one-under 69 today for a three-day one-over total of 211 (71-71-69). Pieczynski tied for fourth place on the individual leaderboard. Junior Mark Leon (Brampton, Ontario) shot a 216 (73-71-72), sophomore Marco Poccia (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) shot a 219 (73-73-73), senior Ted Neville (Oklahoma City, Okla.) had a 220 (73-70-77) and freshman Jason Pannone (East Greenwich, R.I.) shot a 226 (77-76-73). The lowest four scores count for the team total.
There were eight teams ranked in the Top 20 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings in the East Regional field and the Nittany Lions defeated seven of them to advance the NCAA Championships. Among the squads Penn State defeated this weekend are some of the elite in college golf, including No. 1 ranked Florida, Georgia (No. 3), Georgia Tech (No. 6), South Carolina (No. 12), Augusta State (No. 14), Wake Forest (No. 16) and Duke (No. 18). Penn State is ranked No. 72 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
Following Clemson (856) and Penn State (862) in the final standings were Georgia and Georgia Tech (864), Florida (866)) Auburn (867), Georgia State (871), Rhode Island (877) and Vanderbilt (880). North Carolina and North Carolina State tied for the 10th at 882, with the Tar Heels winning a playoff to become the East Regional's final qualifier.
The top individual was Wake Forest's Bill Haas, the National Player of the Year, who shot a three-under 207.
Teams scores 1 Clemson +16 F -3 288 291 277 856
2 Penn State U. +22 F +7 290 285 287 862
T3 Georgia +24 F +4 287 293 284 864
T3 Georgia Tech +24 F +5 291 288 285 864
5 Florida +26 F +10 286 290 290 866
6 Auburn +27 F +7 294 286 287 867
7 Georgia State Univ. +31 F +3 288 300 283 871
8 Rhode Island, U. of +37 F +16 292 289 296 877
9 Vanderbilt +40 F +10 299 291 290 880
T10 North Carolina +42 F +25 294 283 305 882
T10 North Carolina State +42 F +13 299 290 293 882
The top 10 teams advance to the NCAA Championships (North Carolina won playoff) T12 Louisiana State U. +43 F +7 304 292 287 883
T12 Wake Forest Univ. +43 F +19 296 288 299 883
T12 Duke University +43 F +14 294 295 294 883
15 Georgia Southern +45 F +11 302 292 291 885
16 Jacksonville St. +47 F +19 306 282 299 887
17 South Carolina +49 F +17 299 293 297 889
18 Tennessee, Univ. of +51 F +22 297 292 302 891
19 Augusta State +57 F +21 304 292 301 897
20 Maryland, U. of +65 F +21 306 298 301 905
21 UAB +70 F +33 294 303 313 910
22 Georgetown Univ. +74 F +23 304 307 303 914 T23 Army +84 F +30 310 304 310 924
T23 Binghamton Univ. +84 F +35 312 297 315 924
25 Towson University +85 F +35 310 300 315 925
26 Yale University +88 F +35 311 302 315 928
27 Long Island U-Brklyn +128 F +54 321 313 334 968
Top 50 individuals 1 Bill Haas Wake Forest Univ. -3 F E 67 70 70 207
T2 Kenneth Fahey Rhode Island, U. of -2 F -1 67 72 69 208
T2 Camilo Villegas Florida -2 F E 68 70 70 208
T4 Brent Delahoussaye (10) Clemson +1 F -1 70 72 69 211
T4 Jonathan Dismuke Auburn +1 F E 72 69 70 211
T4 Stuart Moore Auburn +1 F E 70 71 70 211
T4 Greg Pieczynski Penn State U. +1 F -1 71 71 69 211
T4 Richard Scott (10) Georgia +1 F E 69 72 70 211
T9 Roberto Castro (10) Georgia Tech +2 F E 74 68 70 212
T9 Luke List Vanderbilt +2 F E 73 69 70 212
T9 Aron Price Georgia Southern +2 F E 74 68 70 212
T12 Ryan Blaum Duke University +3 F -1 76 68 69 213
T12 James Farrah Georgetown Univ. +3 F +1 71 71 71 213
T14 Billy Hurley (10) * Navy +4 F -2 70 76 68 214
T14 Gregg Jones (10) Clemson +4 F -4 75 73 66 214
T14 Nathan Smith Duke University +4 F +2 69 73 72 214
T17 Dustin Bray North Carolina +5 F +4 75 66 74 215
T17 Jonathan Fricke (10) Georgia State +5 F E 72 73 70 215
T17 Gareth Maybin (10) * South Alabama +5 F E 73 72 70 215
T17 Nicholas Thompson (10) Georgia Tech +5 F E 72 73 70 215
T21 Matt Hendrix (10) Clemson +6 F E 74 72 70 216
T21 Mark Leon Penn State U. +6 F +2 73 71 72 216
T23 Kalle Edberg Augusta State +7 F E 75 72 70 217
T23 Lance Goodson Vanderbilt +7 F +5 71 71 75 217
T23 Wesley Horne North Carolina State +7 F +3 75 69 73 217
T23 Dan MacDonald (10) Maryland, U. of +7 F +3 72 72 73 217
T23 Sean Moore Wake Forest Univ. +7 F +5 72 70 75 217
T23 Ted Smith North Carolina +7 F +3 73 71 73 217
T29 Ross Cox (10) Tennessee, Univ. of +8 F E 75 73 70 218
T29 Stephen Poole (10) Clemson +8 F +2 70 76 72 218
T31 Michael Barbosa (10) Georgia Tech +9 F +1 73 75 71 219
T31 Lars Brovold (10) * Alabama, U. of +9 F +3 76 70 73 219
T31 Matt Every Florida +9 F +6 72 71 76 219
T31 Kasper Jorgensen (10) Georgia State +9 F +7 71 71 77 219
T31 Chris Kirk (10) Georgia +9 F E 72 77 70 219
T31 Stephen Lewton North Carolina State +9 F +5 73 71 75 219
T31 Marco Poccia Penn State U. +9 F +3 73 73 73 219
T31 Martin Rominger South Carolina +9 F +5 74 70 75 219
T31 Bryan Rozier (10) Jacksonville St. +9 F -2 78 73 68 219
T31 David Spitz Rhode Island, U. of +9 F +4 74 71 74 219
T41 Will Claxton Auburn +10 F +4 75 71 74 220
T41 Nick Mackay (10) Jacksonville St. +10 F +7 73 70 77 220
T41 Ted Neville Penn State U. +10 F +7 73 70 77 220
T41 Garrett Prather (10) Louisiana State U. +10 F -2 75 77 68 220
T41 Ben Taylor (10) Georgia State Univ. +10 F E 71 79 70 220
T41 Ryan Thomas (10) UAB +10 F +9 70 71 79 220
T41 Brendon Todd (10) Georgia +10 F +7 71 72 77 220
T41 James Vargas Florida +10 F +4 72 74 74 220
T41 Chan Wongluekiet (10) Georgia Tech +10 F +6 72 72 76 220
Official Press Release from New Haven Conn.
