April 27, 2010

Indianapolis, Ind. - Both Grand Valley State golf teams will be competing in their respective regional tournaments early next week, as was released by the NCAA. The men's team earned an automatic berth after winning the GLIAC Championship last October, while the women's team captured an automatic entry to the regional tournament by winning the conference title this past weekend by 26 strokes.

The Laker women travel to Springfield, Missouri for the East Region Tournament next week (May 2-4), where they will compete with eight other teams at Rivercut Golf Course, hosted by Drury. The top three schools from the super regional will advance to the Division II Women's Golf Championship in Mesa, Arizona from May 12-15. GVSU will complete 54 holes of golf against Indianapolis, California (PA), Ashland, Drury, Southern Indiana, Northern Kentucky, Missouri-St. Louis, and Ferris State, with single individuals from Bellarmine, Findlay, Ohio Valley, and Concord also competing.

In its last seven tournaments dating back to late September, GVSU's women's golf team has finished either first or second, including five first-place finishes. Grand Valley State won the Bing Beall Classic and the Zippy Invitational in the fall, while capturing team titles at the Barry Bucs Invitational, the Lady Panther Spring Shootout, and the GLIAC Championship in the past month. GVSU won the 2009 East Regional by 42 strokes in advancing to the Division II National Championship, in which the Lakers finished second, the best finish in program history.

On the men's side, Grand Valley State will compete at The Territory Golf Club in Duncan, Oklahoma, as Cameron University will host the Midwest/South Central Regional early next week (May 3-5). There will be a total of 20 teams competing, with 10 teams coming from both the Midwest and South Central Regional. The Lakers will compete in the Midwest Regional against Ferris State, Wayne State, Indianapolis, Drury, Northern Kentucky, Wisconsin-Parkside, Saginaw Valley State, Findlay, and Bellarmine. Competing in the South Central Regional is Abilene Christian, Central Missouri, St. Edward's, St. Mary's, Dallas Baptist, Midwestern State, Cameron, Central Oklahoma, Newman, and East Central. Out of those 20 schools, the top five teams (regardless of region) advance to the Division II Men's Golf Championship in Noblesville, Indiana on May 18-21.

GVSU has played very well as of late, recording four straight fourth-place finishes earlier in the spring, two of those coming at the Great Lakes Regional Invitational Tournaments in early April. In their last tournament, the Lakers totaled a 10-stroke victory at the Findlay Spring Invitational on April 16-17, as three GVSU golfers finished in the top-10 and all five were in the top-20. Grand Valley State earned the automatic qualifier from the GLIAC after winning the league title by 20 strokes last October, clinching back-to-back GLIAC Championships. At the 2009 Midwest/South Central Regional hosted in Allendale, GVSU finished in ninth place.