The UC Irvine men's golf program rests in third place in the East Regional at Council Fire Golf Club on May 15-17 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Anteaters are 16-under par. The top ten teams advance to the NCAA Championships. Sean Shahi is tied for fourth place in the individual standings at nine-under par.
It is the 10th overall regional appearance for the Anteater program, but the first time UCI will compete in a regional other than the West. UCI is seeded 16th out of 27 teams in the East Regional, which features overall No. 1 seed Georgia. The Anteaters earned the Big West's automatic bid to regionals after capturing their second straight conference title, winning by six shots over UC Davis.
Previous NCAA regional appearances for UCI occurred in 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. UCI finished as high as third in 2001, the same year the school advanced to the NCAA Division I Championship, and in 1992.
UCI is ranked No. 46 in the latest Golfstat rankings and No. 49 by Golfweek.
Twenty-seven teams and six individuals were assigned to one of three regional sites - East, West and Central. The top 10 teams and top two individuals not on advancing teams from regionals will advance to the NCAA Championship, which will be contested May 28-31 on The Kampen Course at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.
The Anteaters are led by sophomore John Chin, the 2008 Big West Player of the Year and medalist at this year's conference tournament. All-Big West First Team selections Sean Shahi and Tim Cha also solidify the Anteater lineup.
NCAA EAST REGIONAL TEAMS
1. Georgia
2. Charlotte
3. South Carolina
4. Duke
5. Chattanooga
6. Auburn
7. East Tennessee State
8. Michigan State
9. Mississippi
10. UAB
11. Virginia Tech
12. North Carolina State
13. Mississippi State
14. Georgia State
15. North Florida
16. UC Irvine
17. Augusta State
18. SMU
19. Middle Tennessee
20. Coastal Carolina
21. Memphis
22. Virginia
23. Western Carolina
24. Colorado State
25. New Mexico State
26. Western Illinois
27. Jackson State