Binghamton has received an at-large berth into the NCAA Men's Golf Championship, and will compete at the East Regional, hosted by Yale May 20-22. The Bearcats, under first-year head coach Nick Lasky, will join 26 other teams at the regional, which is one of three 54-hole tournaments held across the country. The other regionals are being hosted by Purdue and Portland. The top 10 teams plus two additional individuals at each site will advance to the NCAA Finals, June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va.
Binghamton received the No. 24 seed at the regional, which features defending champion Clemson and Florida, the nation's top-rated team. The Bearcats will play a familiar course, having competed at Yale on a regular basis since the early 1990s. This past fall, BU knocked off host Yale and placed fifth out of 18 teams at the par-70 course after shooting 292-299=591. Last spring, the Bearcats were runners-up at the Yale Spring Open after shooting 308-313=621.
The Bearcats won five tournaments in 2003-04 - the second-highest total in the country. Senior Keith Hendrickson (Syosset, N.Y.) sports a 74.15 stroke average, second best in the entire district. He won three tournaments (ECAC Championship, Dartmouth and Lafayette Invites) and has eight top-10 finishes in 13 tournaments. Hendrickson's current stroke average is the lowest of any golfer in program history (Adam Fuchs had a 74.2 mark in 2001-02).
Senior Joe Kunz (Webster, N.Y.), freshman Jeff Wolniewicz (West Seneca, N.Y.) and sophomore Kevin Crawford (Lockport, N.Y.) round out the team's top four. Kunz was a two-time medalist this season, and carries a 75.4 average into the regional. Wolniewicz and Crawford, Binghamton's Western New York connection, have a 76 and 77 stroke average, respectively. Wolniewicz was runner-up at the recent America East Champioship.
At last year's East Regional hosted by Auburn, Binghamton shot rounds of 307-305-305 to place 22nd out of 27 teams. Binghamton's selection is the program's 10th NCAA bid, with seven coming at the Division III level and one up at Division II.