Men’s Golf Opens NCAA Regional Play Monday

TROY, Alabama – The Sun Belt Conference Champion Troy men's golf team opens play at the NCAA Franklin Regional Monday morning at the Vanderbilt Legends Club. The Trojans are one of 13 teams vying to finish in the top five to advance to the NCAA Championships.

Troy enters the NCAA Franklin Regional as the No. 10 seed after earning the Sun Belt Conference's automatic berth. The Trojans, who would have received an at-large bid, won the Sun Belt title in thrilling fashion with a 3-2 victory over Georgia State, who is also in the NCAA field, in the match play championship.

The Trojans earned the No. 2 seed in the match play portion of the Sun Belt Championship and knocked off No. 3 Arkansas State, 4-1, to advance to the championship match against Georgia State. With the match all square at 2-2, Luke Moser birdied the first playoff hole of his match to secure Troy's first conference championship since 1997.

The top five teams and the top individual not on a qualifying team will advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon – last season Tolver Dozier advanced to the NCAA Championships after tying for second place at the NCAA New Haven Regional.

Troy opens play Monday at 9:15 a.m. on the 10^th hole along with East Carolina and UT Martin. The remainder of the field for the Franklin Regional includes Texas, Vanderbilt, LSU, Washington, Virginia, Houston, Pepperdine, Kennesaw State, Michigan and Georgetown.

Moser, who was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team, ranks fourth in the Golfstat Sun Belt Comparative Rankings and boasts the fourth-highest national ranking (247) among Sun Belt golfers. The junior from Waterloo, Ontario won both of his contests in the match play portion of the Sun Belt Championship.

Moser leads the Trojans with a 72.93 stroke average, 12 rounds under par and six rounds in the 60s. He tied the Troy school record with a 7-under 65 in the second round of the Seminole Intercollegiate and has posted six top-25 finishes this season.

Calum Masters (72.33) and Clayton Vannoy (72.53) both join Moser (72.87) with exceptional spring stroke averages. Masters tied for second place at the Sun Belt Championship as he fell in a playoff for the individual crown, while Vannoy tied for fourth place.

Vannoy, who was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team, also won both his match play contests at the Sun Belt Championship and did not trail over all 35 holes he played in the two matches. The junior from Pensacola, Fla., is second to Moser with a 73.07 stroke average for the year and with 10 rounds under par.

Masters, an All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention selection, posted a 70.83 stroke average over his final 12 rounds of the spring with top-10 finishes in all four events.

Jared Bettcher, an All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention selection, led the Trojans in the fall with a 72.71 stroke average and broke through at the end of the Sun Belt Championship with a 3-under 68 in the final round and a pair of two-hole victories in match play. Cam Norman enters the NCAA Regional tied for the team lead with six top-25 finishes and is second with five rounds in the 60s on the year.

Last season, Troy finished in 10th place at the NCAA New Haven Regional hosted by Yale and the Trojans were just seven shots off qualifying for the NCAA Championship.

Live scoring will be available throughout the NCAA Franklin Regional by following the links at TroyTrojans.com.

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Players Mentioned

Jared Bettcher

Tolver Dozier

Calum Masters

Luke Moser

Cam Norman

Clayton Vannoy