2011 NCGC - Tenth anniversary celebrated with USC scoring 10-under par

USC - Nakazaki/Levin

Adam Levin and Kyle Nakazaki from the University of Southern California carded a final score of 62 (-10) to claim the 10th anniversary title of the National Collegiate Golf Championship (NCGC) played at Paiute Golf Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday.

As the players arrived under cloudy skies that kept the early-morning temperatures hovering around the low 40's during the first nine holes of play, the sun began beaming down for a hot back nine as birdies started dropping all over the course.

Kennesaw State - Hall/White

Levin and Nakazaki raced past the 100-player field on the back nine and were in close contention with Randy White and Cory Hall from Kennesaw State University, Lawrence Hsu and Ben Lertsakdadet from the University of California-Irvine, and Anthony and Nick Capra from NC State University in the final push towards the clubhouse lead. 

In the end, scoring birdies on the final holes helped to secure the title for the two from Southern Cal as their tournament-record 62 edged out the other three contenders who finished with identical scores of 64 (-8).

A card-off tie-breaking procedure was used to determine second and third places which were awarded to Kennesaw State and UC-Irvine respectively, to round out the Student Division winners.

UC-Irvine - Lertsakdadet/Hsu

Sonoma State - Ramey/Matthew

In Alumni/Community Division play, James Matthew and Brennan Ramey from Sonoma State University scored a 64 (-8) to outlast defending division champion Mike Nakunz and Gary Enos from California State University - San Bernandino who carded a 6-under par 66 for second place.


Participating in his eighth NCGC tournament, Nakunz continued to add to the event record for most appearances and as an exceptional ambassador for CSUSB.

Topping the Faculty/Staff Division of play, Western Kentucky University's Matt Morrison and Adam Whitt took the lead early on and never relinquished it in claiming the division title with a final score of 68 (-4).

The University of Hawaii's Michael Dahilig and Laine Mason followed behind with a score of 71 (-1) to claim second place.

CSUSB - Enos/Nakunz

Once again, the Wolf Course at Paiute provided the setting for a tremendous tournament round and experience for all participants who represented 28 different universities and colleges.

The CGA looks forward to moving on to the next 10 years of competition and providing opportunities for competitive, amateur recreation golfers on campuses across the country to 'keep the dream alive' and working towards contending for a national championship title.

Western Kentucky - Morrison/Whitt

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University of Hawaii - Mason/Dahilig

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National Collegiate Golf Championship celebrates 10th year of operation

The Collegiate Golf Alliance’s presentation of the National Collegiate Golf Championship (NCGC) enters a milestone year in 2011.

This year’s tournament represents the 10^th year of operation for the largest golf competition in the United States staged for collegiate recreational golfers (non-varsity) to compete for a national championship in a two-person scramble format of play.

Always held in Las Vegas, Nevada, this year’s event will once again be held at the top-rated Paiute Golf Resort which will present quite a challenge to new and returning NCGC competitors.

Over the years the event has been hosted at other highly-rated courses in the area including Silverstone Country Club, Revere Golf Club, and Badlands Golf Club.

Offering three divisions of play including Student, Faculty/Staff, and Alumni/Community groupings, a number of participants in this year’s tournament are not strangers to the event or the experience of traveling to Vegas to play in the NCGC.

Many are returning champions of their local qualifier events year in and year out and some are returning NCGC division champions representing their university or college once again.

Mike Nakunz, California State University – San Bernandino 

Mike has participated in the Alumni/Community division for the last eight years with different partners and won his local qualifier once again in 2011.  This year he didn’t think he was going to be able to play after a shoulder injury sidelined him, but he managed to recover quickly and made a return trip to Vegas happen.  He won the Alumni/ Community division last year but fell short in claiming the overall tournament championship title.  His wife Jennifer, who has been a huge supporter for Mike, has accompanied him each and every year.  Their son Bryce has also been at the tournament cheering for his dad.  Mike always speaks VERY highly of the NCGC and the entire CGA program. Why wouldn’t he? He’s the CGA’s longest-standing participant and ambassador at the NCGC.

Kerry Geroux, University of Southern Mississippi

He has been a participant since 2004 and has won the faculty/staff division 4 times since then.  His partner is Dave Beckett – also a returnee who was partnered with Kerry when they won in 2004 and 2005. 

Mike Dowst/ Todd Nace, University of Southern Mississippi

 Also winners of the program in 2009 in the Alumni/Community division.  They will be up against the Nakunz team and will try to capture the honors for that division this year. 

Aaron Briones – defending champion from Sonoma State University

 Aaron was part of the winning Student Division team in 2010 along with partner Ryan Carter. However, in 2011, Briones comes back to defend his overall title with a new partner this year since Carter was not able to attend this year’s tournament.

Matt Morrison/Adam Whitt, Western Kentucky University

Matt and Adam won the Faculty/Staff division in 2010 and will be trying to defend their title over four -time winner, Kerry Geroux and partner David Beckett.

Lloyd Hisaka – University of Hawaii

He is the Director of the University of Hawaii Department of Recreation and has built participation in the Local Qualifier tournament to a tremendous level. The first tournament he held had 18 players and in 2011, the field grew to 154 participants.

 

Carl Furtani, University of Hawaii 

Along with Lloyd, Carl played a large part in spreading the NCGC brand and story to the Island which resulted in developing a large field that competed for the chance to travel to play in the NCGC in Las Vegas. The University of Hawaii will bring 16 players to compete in various divisions in this year’s tournament.

First-year participating programs at the 2011 NCGC: Boston University, University of Kansas, Ithaca College, UC Berkeley, University of Vermont