Men’s Golf Makes Its Return to the NCAA Regional

5/8/2023 12:00:00 AM

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Goldey-Beacom this week returns to familiar territory as it competes at the NCAA East/Atlantic Regional in Lebanon, PA.

The 54-hole event begins Thursday at Iron Valley Golf Club and concludes Saturday. The top three teams in the regional along with two individuals from non-qualifying schools advance to the NCAA Championship, which takes place May 22-26 in Warren, OH.

Goldey-Beacom is ranked sixth in the East Region and will have Thursday tee times of 12:40 pm, 12:50 pm, 1:00 pm, 1:10 pm and 1:20 pm. Friday's tee times are 10:00 am, 10:10 am, 10:20 am, 10:30 am and 10:40 am. Saturday's tee times feature a traditional golf format in which the leaders go last.

The Lightning have displayed great confidence all season with four victories, including a triumph at the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship for the first of three consecutive wins. They were the program's fourth league title and clinched the squad's ninth team appearance at the NCAA Regional.

While college golf is a team sport, great individuals also are needed and Goldey-Beacom certainly has that. Sophomores Hunter McGee (Almont, ON) and Pablo Saenz Avila (Bogota, Colombia) each were named to the All-CACC Team a fourth straight year and sophomore Camilo Samur (Bucaramanga, Colombia) earned his second consecutive honor.

McGee has continued the impressive play that helped him be crowned 2020-21 CACC Player of the Year and the 2021-22 CACC individual champion. This season, he has recorded six top-10 showings that include winning the Spartan Shootout with 141, ending second at the GBC Fall Invitational with 70 and closing tied for seventh at the CACC Championship with 226.

Three times this season McGee has broken 70 and he is ranked sixth in the East Region, according to GolfStat. He will be named to the CACC Academic Honor Roll for a second time.

After the 2020-21 regular season, McGee was the top-ranked player in the East Region and followed that by winning his second straight Ottawa Citizen Golf Championship.

Saenz Avila once again continues to be a massive part of the lineup, recording four top-10 finishes that included second at the Jefferson Quad-Match with 74 and tied for third at the CACC Championship with 224.

Saenz Avila shot season-best scores of 69 and 70 at the Vulcan Invitational, the Lightning's first tournament of the season, and he is ranked 29th in the East Region.

Samur has been a huge part of the team's success the last three years and that was on display October 26, when he won the GBC Fall Invitational by carding 68. He also shot 68 and 69 to close ninth at the Vulcan Invitational, one of his four top-10 finishes this season.

Samur also played a huge role at the CACC Championship by ending tied for 16th and that has helped to a No. 28 showing in the East Region.

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