The UC Irvine men's golf team begins play at the NCAA West Regional today through Saturday at the ASU Karsten Creek Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. The Anteaters are seeded 10th among 27 teams. The top 10 teams advance to the NCAA Championships May 30-June 2 in Williamsburg, Va. Cal Poly freshman Geoff Gonzalez and Pacific senior Thomas Petersson also are competing in the West Regional as individuals. Follow all of the action by going to www.golfstat.com or by clicking above link.

UCI Men's Golf Team Earns Sixth Trip In Seven Years to Regionals; Gonzalez & Petersson Individuals

UC Irvine was seeded 10th out of 27 teams for the NCAA Men's Golf West Regional, which will take place May 17-19 at the ASU Karsten Creek Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. This is the sixth regional appearance in the last seven years and ninth overall for the Anteater program. In addition, Cal Poly freshman Geoff Gonzalez and Pacific senior Thomas Petersson will compete as individuals in the West Regional.

Stanford is the No. 1 seed and UCLA No. 2. Joining Gonzalez and Petersson as competing individuals will be Brian Locke of Loyola Marymount, Dustin Pimm of Utah, Darrin Hall of San Diego and Michael McRae of Saint Mary's.

UCI captured the program's fourth Big West championship and first since 2003 with a 54-hole total of 12-under 852. The Anteaters held off a hard charging Cal Poly squad that finished in second place, three strokes behind at 9-under 855.

UCI is ranked No. 29 in the most recent Golfstat head-to-head national rankings (May 16) and 38th in the May 6 Golfweek/Sagarin Index.

The Anteaters previously participated in regional play in 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006. UCI's top regional finish was third in 2001 as the program advanced to the NCAA Championships that year and in 1992. UCI finished 16th in last year's NCAA West Regional at Tucson National Golf Club.

The three regional tournaments, encompassing the current nine sub-regions, will all be conducted May 17-19. A total of 27 teams and six individuals not on selected teams were assigned to each regional site. Ten teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from each regional to the championship finals.

The NCAA championships will be conducted May 30-June 2 at the Gold Course at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va. Virginia Commonwealth University is the host institution for this year's championships.

The other two regionals include the East Regional (The Golf Club of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga.) and Central Regional (Rich Harvest Farms, Sugar Grove, Ill.).

This is the fifth straight year that the Cal Poly men's golf program has been involved with postseason play. In 2003 and 2004, Travis Bertoni represented the Mustangs in the regionals as an individual his freshman and sophomore years. Cal Poly qualified as a team in 2005 and 2006.

Gonzalez, a first team All-Big West selection, has accumulated seven top-10 finishes in 11 tournaments this season. His scoring average per round is 72.3 and he has shot below 70 in five of his last nine rounds. Gonzalez fired a career-best round of 75 on the final day of the Big West Championships on April 24.

For Pacific, Petersson becomes the first individual since Matt Hansen in 2003 to represent the Tigers in regional play. Petersson has averaged 73.0 strokes per round over 36 rounds. He has finished in the top-10 in five tournaments, and tied Cal Poly's Gonzalez for fifth place with a 3-under 213 at the Big West Championships. Petersson is also a first team all-conference selection.

NCAA WEST REGIONAL TEAMS

1. Stanford
2. UCLA
3. UNLV
4. USC
5. East Tennessee State
6. Brigham Young
7. Arizona State
8. Wake Forest
9. Arizona
10. UC Irvine
11. South Carolina
12. Washington
13. Vanderbilt
14. Augusta State
15. Pepperdine
16. San Diego State
17. New Mexico
18. Oregon State
19. Colorado State
20. Oregon
21. California
22. Nevada
23. Denver
24. Pennsylvania
25. Detroit
26. Bucknell
27. Monmouth

NCAA WEST REGIONAL INDIVIDUALS

1. Brian Locke, Loyola Marymount
2. Dustin Pimm, Utah
3. Darren Hall, San Diego
4. Michael McCrary, Saint Mary's
5. Geoff Gonzalez, Cal Poly
6. Thomas Petersson, Pacific