Men's Golf Ready For NCAA Regional
SMITHFIELD, RI – After capturing the program's second Northeast Conference title, the Bryant University men's golf team will take part in the 2017 NCAA Division I men's golf championship this week at Aldarra Golf Club in Sammamish, Washington. The three round, 54-hole regional will begin on Monday, May 15 and conclude May 17 with the low teams advancing to the NCAA finals May 26-31 in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
Bryant is one of 14 schools competing at the Washington Regional, joining the likes of the University of Southern California, the top seed of the regional, host University of Washington, Texas A&M, Florida State, Alabama, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Marquette.
Under the direction of sixth-year coach Charlie Blanchard, this will be Bryant's second appearance in the NCAA Division I championships as the Bulldogs last qualified in 2014 after capturing the NEC title that year and competing in the University of Missouri Regional.
Senior Ryan Tombs (Bedford, NH) is the only member of this year's team with NCAA experience, competing as a participant on that last Bryant team as a freshman. Tombs was the individual runner up at the conference championships with a three-round total of 217. He comes into this week's NCAA's with a team-best average of 72.8. He captured first at the Ryan Lee Memorial at Central Connecticut in the fall and also took top honors at the Rhode Island Invitational with a 215.
Joining Tombs in the lineup will be McKinley Slade (Saunderstown, RI), John Roberts (West Hartford, Conn.), Ryan Brown (Bedford, NH) and Will Del Biaggio (San Jose, Calif.).
Slade enters the tournament with a scoring average of 75.0 and has three top five finishes this season. Slade finished fourth at the conference championships in Daytona, including an opening round 69 on the first day.
Roberts has been one of the most consistent members of this year's team. The senior averaged 75.4 through 11 events on the season and was steady at the conference championships where he finished sixth overall individually thanks to final round even par 72 to finish with a three-day total of 224
Brown, who had a tremendous tournament at the conference championships, helping the Bulldogs secure their championship title with a second round score of 74 and finishing with an even-par 72 on the final day. The sophomore brings a scoring average of 76.1 into the NCAA's.
Del Biaggio, competing in his first year at Bryant as a true freshman, has competed in 11 events for the Bulldogs this season, averaging 75.1 on the year. The California native captured the VGA / UConn Invitational in April with a three-round score of 213 including a round of 70 on the opening day and a season-best 69 on day 2.