'Ville men's golf seeks NCAA Championship bid

Thursday, May 9

Wheeling, WV

Millersville University

NCAA Super Regional

'Ville men's golf seeks NCAA Championship bid

5/6/2024 3:30:00 PM | Men's Golf

NCAA Super Regional Site

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

WHEELING, W.Va. - The top 20 teams from the NCAA's Atlantic and East regions converse on the Jones Course at Olgebay Resort for the NCAA Super Regional seeking a top-five finish and a berth to the NCAA Division II Championships. Millersville is in the super regional field for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons.

Millersville claimed its spot in the super regional by winning the PSAC Championship in October. While the Marauders have been a fixture in the postseason under Scott Vandegrift, they have not qualified for the NCAA Championships as a team since it won the NCAA East Regional in 2003. The 2023-24 Marauders can make a case for being Vandegrift's strongest contender since.

Millersville enters the event as the No. 5 seed from the Atlantic Region, but as evidenced by its 13-shot victory at the PSAC Championship and program record-tying five tournament wins, the team is as good as any in the field when it is playing well. Charleston, Gannon, IUP, and Glenville State were seeded ahead of Millersville. Saint Thomas Aquinas topped the 10 qualifying teams from the East Region.

The NCAA's official rankings system, Clippd, has Millersville ranked fourth in the Atlantic Region, and its 9.43 average points per event rank ahead of all but two East Region qualifiers (Goldey-Beacom and Saint Thomas Aquinas).

Millersville's strength is in its balance. Four different golfers have won events this season and all five projected starters for the super regional boast scoring averages of 76.7 or lower. Freshman Timothy Peters burst onto the collegiate scene with four tournament wins, including the PSAC Championship. Peters' 73.6 scoring average and five top-three finishes have him ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic Region. Senior Bobby Lugiano, with one win, four top-three finishes, and a 75.3 scoring average, ranks 11th.

Joining Peters and Lugiano in Millersville's lineup are senior Carl Ernst, freshman Jake Speers, and senior Ty Morral. Ernst finished 53rd at the 2023 super regional, and Morral finished 18th after shooting 9-over. Speers, a native of Ireland, has quickly acclimated to golf in the states with five top-10 finishes. He's carded a 73 three times.

While talented, Millersville has not been as sharp of late. Competing against many of the same teams it will see in the super regional, Millersville finished in a three-way tie for seventh at the Cecil C. Spadafora Invitational on April 15-16, and on Apil 22-23, the Marauders played Oglebay's Jones Course in the Super Region Preview and finished ninth with a 624 total--12 shots behind fifth-place Davis & Elkins and 26 behind the winning Charleston squad. Peters led the Marauders with a 14th-place finish, shooting rounds of 74 and 77.

The Jones Course is a par-71 track and can play up to 7,000 yards. It was previously home to the West Virginia LPGA Classic and also hosted the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship.

The teams have a practice round on Wednesday, May 8 before the competition begins on Thursday, May 9 at 7:30 a.m. Tee times begin at 7:30 for each of the three rounds of competition. Live scoring is available through Golfstat.