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Tolver Dozier Wins NCAA Elite 89 Award; Opens Championship Play Friday
5/28/2015 5:51:00 PM | Golf (M)
BRADENTON, Florida – Troy senior Tolver Dozier was presented the Elite 89 Award for the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships during the Men's Golf Championship banquet Thursday night.
The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above who have participated in their sport for at least two years with their school. They must be an active member of the team, traveling and a designated member of the squad size at the championship. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.
"This couldn't have happened to a better young man," Troy head coach Matt Terry said. "Tolver epitomizes everything that we are trying to do at Troy University and this is an amazing bookend to a great career at Troy. Hopefully this is a start of a new chapter for him as he gets married and turns pro following the NCAA Championship."
Dozier graduated Summa Cum Laude with a grade-point average of 3.93 in business marketing on May 8, 2015. He is the first Troy University student-athlete to earn the NCAA Elite 89 Award.
The Dothan, Ala., native became an overnight sensation after he qualified for the NCAA Championship as an individual thanks to an eagle on the first playoff hole of the NCAA New Haven Regional. Dozier birdied three of his final four holes to force the playoff and then hit a 138-yard second shot on the par-4 first hole to hole out and advance to this weekends NCAA Championship.
"It was a long day on the course today with a seven-hour practice round," Terry said. "It was tough not having his teammates here to share the experience with him. It is a great golf course, but it is a tough golf course. Tolver had an awesome practice round and he is going to have to be very meticulous and smart on the course tomorrow, which could fall right into his alley."
The video of Dozier's eagle has more than 20,000 views on YouTube and made its rounds on SportsCenter, CBSSports.com and the Golf Channel. Additionally, Dozier had interviews on various Golf Channel shows and on PGA Radio.
"It's has been a great two weeks since the Regional and all of that stuff was really cool, but I'm here to compete as hard as a I can and that is my only goal," Dozier said. "This is a really cool experience and something that I'll remember for the rest of my life.
"The course as you would expect is really tough," Dozier said. "The biggest challenge for me will be the length, while where the course fits me is that par is going to be a really good score and you will have to take birdies where they come."
Dozier opens play at the NCAA Championship at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., Friday at 8 a.m. along with Colorado's David Oraee and East Tennessee State's Gudmundur Kristjansson.
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