Texas Tech Ready for NCAA Championship
May 27, 2015 | Men's Golf
May 27, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas - The No. 8 Texas Tech men's golf team will tee off on No. 10 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla. beginning at 1:10pm ET to start the first round of play at the 2015 NCAA Championship.
The Red Raiders enter the tournament as the No. 9 seed, making their 11th championship appearance and second in the last three years.
"It never gets old making it to the National Championship," Sands said. "We have had a good week of preparation and the guys seem ready. Not everybody is going to play perfect every day but the golf course is going to be great and I think as long as our guys stay patient we'll be good to go."
Tech finished runner-up at the Lubbock Regional two weeks ago where senior Clement Sordet clinched the co-individual medalist honor. The second-place team finish marked the seventh time the Red Raiders have advanced to the final tournament under the direction of Coach Sands.
The Red Raiders are led by Sordet, who with a 70.6 stroke average owns nine top 10 finishes in the last 12 tournaments. The freshmen, Mito Pereira and Wes Artac, continue to show no nerves in postseason play as both earned All-Big 12 Championship team honors after finishing tied for 10th overall. Meanwhile, sophomore Hannes Ronneblad turned in the best round of the Regional, a five-under 66, in the final round to carry him into Friday's first round of the NCAA Championship.
The team played a practice round earlier this week at the Isleworth Country Club in Orlando before traveling to Bradenton for Thursday's practice round.
The Concession Golf Club is playing as a par 72 at 7,483 yards and the expansive layout will prove to be a challenge for all 30 teams; however, a Texas Tech team has already found success on the course as the Lady Raider golf team finished a program-best fifth place in the NCAA Championship on Monday after falling to Duke in match play, 4-1.
"Patience is going to be the key," Sands said. "The golf course, from what we hear, is separating and tough. So the message to the guys this week is there are going to be good rounds but you're going to have to hang in there with the rounds you struggle and get it in the house."
Live scoring updates will be available at www.golfstat.com.
