MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- NCU Men’s Golf is looking to make more history in 2010-11. The 2009 team became the first NCU team to capture an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Championship. The 2010 Rams will be looking to repeat as UMAC champions, and with it, claim the first automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Men’s Golf Championship. This is the first year that the UMAC champion will be awarded a spot at the NCAA National Championship. The Rams will also be shooting for their first birth in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Championship.
Head Coach Todd Monger and assistant coach Spencer Hutton are looking to test their squad this year and prepare them for the challenges of post-season play. The Rams are now using Mississippi Dunes Golf Links (Cottage Grove, Minn.) as their home course and are playing a more challenging schedule. The Rams are the only NCAA DIII team to be invited to the NCAA DII St. Cloud State (St Cloud, Minn.) Invitational on September 18-19. The UMAC Conference Championship will be held in Alexandria, Minn. and is a 54-hole 3-day event from September 30th-October 2nd. The NCAA DIII Championship is held in the spring from May 10-13 at Grandover Resort in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The NCCAA Championship is also a 54-hole event. Qualifying teams will be picked on September 24 based on event score averages from the season. The tournament will be held October 11-12, 2010 at Edgewater Beach Resort, Hombre Golf Course, in Panama City, Florida.
Coach Monger and Hutton both agree that the 2010 team is the deepest they have had from top to bottom with all nine team members capable of contributing. Returners include Senior Jon-Michael Sherman (Fargo, N.D.) and Sophomores Daniel Johnson (Grand Forks, N.D.), Benjamin Thorson (Hudson, Wis.), Curtis Ward (Princeton, Minn.), and Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis.). Newcomers include Freshman Taylor Alvarado (Phoenix, Ariz.), Taylor Murphy (Princeton, Minn.), and Ty Liljander (Isanti, Minn.). Johnson will serve as team captain.
