May 6, 2003

A week after winning the 2003 Patriot League Golf Championship, Navy has been selected to play in the NCAA West Regional May 15-17 at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash.

The Mids will join top-seeded UCLA, UNLV, Arizona, Georgia, Arizona State, Washington, New Mexico, USC, Pepperdine, San Diego State, California, Fresno State, Cal-Irvine, Brigham Young, Colorado State, UTEP, Denver, Oregon, Austin Peay, Stanford, Oregon State, Old Dominion, Xavier, Oral Roberts, Central Connecticut State and Loyola to form the 2003 NCAA West Regional field.

It marks the Mids' ninth appearance in the NCAA Golf Tournament and the fourth in the last-six years. Under current head coach Pat Owen, the Mids have made three previous appearances, including back-to-back competitions in 2000 and 2001.

Navy's top-three players, seniors Brian Crum (Fairfax, Va.) and Nick Rogers (Lothian, Md.), along with junior Billy Hurley (Leesburg, Va.) played in Navy's last NCAA regional appearance in 2001. Rogers was the lone Midshipman to crack the top 80, shooting an 11-over par 77 to lead the Mids to a 25th-place finish at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis, Ore.

"We are thrilled to be in this year's field," said Owen. "We are looking forward to not only playing some of the top schools, but also some of the best individual golfers in the country. We have three guys (Crum, Hurley and Rogers) who have played in the NCAA Tournament before, so that plays an advantage in terms of knowing what to expect."

Three regional tournaments, - the West Regional, the Central Regional at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manahattan, Kan. and the East Regional at the Auburn University Club in Roswell, Ga. - covering nine regions, will be held May 15-17. Twenty-seven teams and six individuals have qualified for each regional with 10 teams and two individuals advancing out of each of the three regionals to the championship finals. The championship will be played May 27-30 at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.