May 10, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Nine of the nation’s top 50 collegiate men’s golf programs headline a stellar 14-team field at the 2010 NCAA Central Regional, which will be played May 20-22 at the Warren Golf Course (par 70/7,020 yards) on the Notre Dame campus. On Monday evening, the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee unveiled the fields for the six regional sites, along with the qualifying individuals for each site who were not on one of the selected squads. The top five teams and top individual competitor (not on an advancing team) from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships June 1-6 at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Stanford, the No. 2 team in the nation according to the May 5 Golfstat ratings, is the top seed in the Central Regional after earning an at-large bid out of the Pacific-10 Conference. The Cardinal are one of nine teams in the Central Regional field that appear in the top 50 of the latest published Golfstat ratings — No. 15 Florida, No. 10 Florida State, No. 23 Duke, No. 26 LSU, No. 36 North Carolina State, No. 39 Iowa, No. 47 Michigan and No. 50 Northwestern are the others (listed in order of their seed), with all nine earning at-large bids from their respective conferences.
Rounding out this year’s Central Regional field (and listed in seeding order) are: Indiana, Virginia Tech, Ohio Valley Conference champion Murray State, Horizon League champion Detroit and Northeast Conference champion Saint Francis (Pa.). In addition, five individual qualifiers will participate in the regional — Michigan State’s Jack Newman, Minnesota’s Ben Pisani, Purdue’s Erich Johnston, Youngstown State’s Ryan Stocke and Iona’s Doug Hoppe.
The NCAA regionals are contested in a three-day, 54-hole format, with 18 holes played each day. Teams will compete in a practice round on May 19 (Wednesday), before taking part in three rounds of competition May 20-22 (Thursday-Saturday) with the first tee times set for 8:00 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday and Friday, and 7:30 a.m. (EDT) on Saturday. Admission to the Warren Golf Course for the NCAA Central Regional is free.
The Warren Golf Course opened on May 1, 2000, and was designed by the Austin, Texas-based firm of Coore and Crenshaw, headed by Bill Coore and PGA Tour veteran (and two-time Masters champion) Ben Crenshaw. This will mark the second time the course has played host to NCAA regional play, with Augusta State winning the 2005 Central Regional by nine shots over Oklahoma State. During its 10-year existence, the Warren Golf Course also has played host to two U.S. Amateur qualifiers, two Western Amateur qualifiers and five BIG EAST Conference Championships, and it will serve as the host site for the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship June 21-26.
Noted for its turn-of-the-century, old-world charm that recalls the classic early Irish and American courses, the Warren Golf Course is built upon subtleties, including small undulating greens and numerous strategically-placed bunkers (all of which were recently enhanced). Since its opening, the Warren Golf Course has been named of the best new courses in America by Golf Digest, has been tabbed a must-play venue by both Links Magazine and Golf Digest, and was named the No. 2 layout in the state of Indiana according to the 2008 Golfweek state-by-state ranking of the nation’s best public access courses.
A complete rundown of the teams and individuals in this year’s NCAA Central Regional follows:
| Seed Team (Golfstat/Golfweek rankings) | Berth (Conference) | Last NCAA regional berth (result) |
| 1. Stanford (2/3) | At-large (Pac-10) | 2009 (4th, Southwest) |
| 2. Florida (15/6) | At-large (SEC) | 2009 (1st, Southwest) |
| 3. Florida State (10/19) | At-large (ACC) | 2009 (tie-7th, Southwest) |
| 4. Duke (23/24) | At-large (ACC) | 2009 (5th, Central) |
| 5. LSU (26/30) | At-large (SEC) | 2009 (6th, South Central) |
| 6. North Carolina State (36/40) | At-large (ACC) | 2009 (6th, Central) |
| 7. Iowa (39/48) | At-large (Big Ten) | 2009 (5th, Southeast) |
| 8. Michigan (47/49) | At-large (Big Ten) | 2009 (5th, Southwest) |
| 9. Northwestern (50/50) | At-large (Big Ten) | 2009 (tie-4th, South Central) |
| 10. Indiana (60/66) | At-large (Big Ten) | 2009 (12th, Southeast) |
| 11. Virginia Tech (62/61) | At-large (ACC) | 2009 (12th, Southwest) |
| 12. Murray State (120/124) | Automatic (OVC) | N/A |
| 13. Detroit (138/143) | Automatic (Horizon League) | 2007 (25th, West) |
| 14. Saint Francis (Pa.) (NA/261) | Automatic (Northeast) | 2006 (27th, Central) |
Individual Qualifiers
1. Jack Newman (Michigan State)
2. Ben Pisani (Minnesota)
3. Erich Johnston (Purdue)
4. Ryan Stocke (Youngstown State)
5. Doug Hoppe (Iona)