NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's golf team has been selected to participate in the Bath (Mich.) NCAA Regional, hosted by Michigan State University at Eagle Eye Golf Club on May 15-17.
The Redbirds – making their first team NCAA Regional appearance since the 2007 season – are coming off a 13-stroke win at the MVC Championship to secure the automatic berth.
In 2007 ISU placed 14th of 27 schools at the NCAA Central Regional hosted by Northern Illinois. The 2004-05 Redbird squad advanced to the NCAA West Regional hosted by Stanford and finished 23rd of 27 schools while in 2002 ISU placed 24th of 27 schools at the NCAA West Regional hosted by New Mexico.
Eagle Eye Golf Club was listed as a top-100 public course in America in 2022. Chris Lutzke, in collaboration with Pete Dye, has designed a rolling "links" style championship golf course featuring magnificent shot values on every hole. Eagle Eye provides a challenge from any of five sets of tees... and the signature "Island Green" #17 is simply not to be missed. In 2017 Golf Advisor raters ranked Eagle Eye #5 in the nation! In 2016 Eagle Eye was the host to the 105th Michigan Amateur. In 2014 Golf Digest magazine rated Eagle Eye's 18 holes as the fifth best public golf course in Michigan, and the 4th-best championship golf course in Michigan in 2006 by Michigan Golf magazine. It was rated 27th best public course in the nation and 4th best in Michigan by GolfWorld subscribers.
This season during the difficult fall and spring seasons, the Redbirds have competed against 19 different schools inside of the NCAA Regional (Augusta, Baylor, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Houston, Indiana, Little Rock, Louisiana, Louisville, LSU, Marquette, Mississippi State, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Wisconsin) with wins or ties against Augusta, Cincinnati, Marquette, Northern Illinois, Ole Miss, Purdue, and Wisconsin.
Joining the Redbirds in the tournament is regional-top-seed Illinois, Florida, Texas, Oregon, Kansas State, Georgia, Liberty, San Diego, Little Rock, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Purdue Fort Wayne. Adding familiarity to the field include a pair of Valparaiso golfers – Caleb VanArragon and Anthony Delisanti.
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