May 17, 1999
Texas A&M senior Ryan Palmer will compete as an individual in the 1999 NCAA Men's Golf Central Regional Thursday through Sunday at the Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio.
The top 10 teams and two individuals at the regional will advance to the NCAA Championships June 2-5 in Chaska, Minn. The tournament will consist of 18 holes each day for a 54-hole total. The first group will tee off at 7:30 a.m. (EST) each day with the final group scheduled to start at 1 p.m. (EST).
The Par-72, 7,100-yard Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course is ranked among the top courses in the country. Is was designed by Alistair Mackenzie, who also designed the famed Augusta National Golf Club.
A total of 21 teams and six individual players will comprise the NCAA Central Regional field. Eight Big 12 Conference teams will play in the Central Regional - Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Iowa State, Texas and Baylor. In addition, Missouri's David Suggs received an individual bid.
Other teams in the field are Minnesota, Northwestern, Kent State, Illinois, Toledo, Purdue, Tulsa, Houston, SMU, Texas-Arlington, North Texas, TCU and Arkansas. Other players receiving individual bids are Sam Houston State's Brandt Kieschnick, Ball State's Jamie Broce, Arkansas State's Zoltan Veress and Arkansas-Little Rock's Daniel Fox.
The NCAA East Regional will be Thursday through Saturday in Providence, R.I., while the NCAA West Regional will be Thursday through Saturday in Tucson, Ariz. Eleven teams and two individuals will advance to the national tournament from the East Regional and nine teams and two individuals will advance from the West Regional.
Texas A&M failed to receive a team regional bid for the first time since 1991 and did not qualify for postseason play for only the third time in Bob Ellis's 25 years as head coach.
"In spite of the poor year our team had, it's a credit to Ryan to earn a berth in the regional as an individual," Ellis said. "I look for him to have a good performance at the regional and hopefully he can make the national tournament and play well there."
Palmer led the Aggies this season with a 73.34 stroke average and posted five top 10 finishes. He has finished in top 20 in six straight tournaments, posting a 72.39 average in that stretch. Earlier this month, Palmer was named All-Big 12 Conference for the third straight year.
Last summer, Palmer was one of six amateurs to qualify for the 1998 U.S. Open in San Francisco and also qualified for match play at the 1998 U.S. Amateur. As a junior at Amarillo High School in 1994, he finished second at the Class 5A state tournament.