Kansas City, Mo. – The Southern States Athletic Conference Champion Dalton State men’s golf team has known since wrapping up the SSAC tournament title last month in Montgomery that they were going to the 64th annual NAIA National Championship at the LPGA International Course on May 19-22 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The No. 10 ranked Roadrunners will be joined in the national tournament by defending NAIA Champions Coastal Georgia.
The Mariners finished No. 1 in the final regulars season poll released Thursday.
First and second round pairings will be announced on Friday. The 156-player field consists of 21 automatic qualifying teams, which won or finished runner-up in their respective conference, independent or unaffiliated group tournament, seven at-large berths, Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and seven individual qualifiers.
Dalton State (281-278-271 = 830) finished at 10-under-par in the conference tournament. The men were two strokes ahead of the University of Mobile (284-286-262 = 832). Coastal Georgia (282-280-272 = 834) was third at Montgomery Country Club.
Dalton State’s Sean Elliott (69-67-64 = 200) was the SSAC Championship Individual Medalist at 10-under-par. Levi Nix (68-66-68 = 202) of DS led through the first two rounds in Montgomery and finished with a consistent 8-under-par.
Mobile star Zach Day (70-70-63 = 203) had the best individual round of the SSAC tournament and finished tied with Coastal Georgia’s Alastair Tidcombe (67-70-64 = 203) at 7-under. The effort earned Day the No.-1 Individual At-Large spot in the national tournament.
2015 Men’s Golf National Championships Team Qualifiers (listed alphabetically)
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School
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Qualification
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Bellevue (Neb.)
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Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
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Bethany (Kan.)
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Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
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British Columbia
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At-Large No. 2
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Cal State San Marcos
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Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion
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Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)
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Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
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Coastal Georgia
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At-Large No. 1
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Concordia (Ore.)
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Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion
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Culver-Stockton (Mo.)
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Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
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Dalton State (Ga.)
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Southern States Athletic ConferenceTournament Champion
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Davenport (Mich.)
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Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic ConferenceTournament Champion
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Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
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Host Berth
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Grand View (Iowa)
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Midwest Collegiate ConferenceTournament Champion
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Jamestown (N.D.)
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Unaffiliated Group - GCAC/North Star Tournament Champion
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Johnson & Wales (Fla.)
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The Sun Conference Tournament Champion
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Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
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Frontier Conference Tournament Championship
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Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
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Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion
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Marian (Ind.)
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Crossroads League Tournament Champions
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Northwestern (Iowa)
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Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
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Oklahoma City
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Unaffiliated Group - RRAC/SAC Tournament Champion
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Point Park (Pa.)
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Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
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St. Francis (Ill.)
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Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up
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Tennessee Wesleyan
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Appalachian Athletic ConferenceTournament Champion
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Texas Wesleyan
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At-Large No. 4
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The Master's (Calif.)
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Unaffiliated Group - Cal Pac/GSAC Tournament Champion
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USC Beaufort (S.C.)
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At-Large No. 5
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Victoria (B.C.)
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At-Large No. 6
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Wayland Baptist (Texas)
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At-Large No. 3
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Webber International (Fla.)
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At-Large No. 7
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William Woods (Mo.)
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American Midwest Conference Tournament Champion
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2015 Men’s Golf National Championships Individual Qualifiers (listed alphabetical by school)
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Individual
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Qualification
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Will McKenzie, Brescia (Ky.)
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Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist
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Kade Crossland, Corban (Ore.)
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At-Large No. 2
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Guido Vidotto, Edward Waters (Fla.)
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Unaffiliated Group - GCAC/North Star Individual Medalist
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Matt Zampello, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)
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Unaffiliated Group -Cal Pac/GSAC Individual Medalist
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Jake Coffey, Indiana Wesleyan
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Crossroads League Individual Medalist
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Zach Day, Mobile (Ala.)
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At-Large No. 1
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Zach Oliver, Oklahoma Baptist
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Unaffiliated Group- RRAC/SAC Individual Medalist
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Daniel Thompsett, Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
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Frontier Conference Individual Medalist
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Seth Bryan, Southwestern (Kan.)
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Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist
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Richard Le, St. Thomas (Texas)
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2014 National Championships Top-15 Finisher
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Stone Cowie, Thomas (Ga.)
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At-Large No. 3
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2015 NAIA Men’s Golf Coaches Top 25 Poll – Final (May 7)
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RANK
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LAST
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SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES
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TOTAL POINTS
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1
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1
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Coastal Georgia (12)
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433
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2
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2
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Oklahoma City (4)
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424
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3
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3
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William Woods (Mo.)
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409
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4
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5
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Cal State San Marcos
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394
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5
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4
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British Columbia
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379
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6
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6
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Wayland Baptist (Texas)
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364
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7
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7
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Johnson & Wales (Fla.)
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355
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8
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8
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Texas Wesleyan
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331
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9
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9
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USC Beaufort (S.C.)
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324
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10
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10
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Grand View (Iowa)
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308
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11
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11
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Dalton State (Ga.)
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304
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12
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12
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Victoria (B.C.)
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271
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13
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14
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Webber International (Fla.)
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270
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14
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13
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Northwood (Fla.)
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254
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15
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17
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Oklahoma Baptist
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232
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16
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15
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Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)
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225
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|
17
|
25
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Mobile (Ala.)
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203
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18
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16
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Concordia (Ore.)
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201
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19
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18
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Thomas (Ga.)
|
198
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20
|
20
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Tennessee Wesleyan
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168
|
|
21
|
21
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Mount Mercy (Iowa)
|
165
|
|
22
|
22
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Union (Ky.)
|
136
|
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23
|
RV
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Bethany (Kan.)
|
105
|
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24
|
24
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Corban (Ore.)
|
97
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25
|
RV
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Warner (Fla.)
|
80
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Others receiving votes: Faulkner (Ala.) 73; AIB (Iowa) 53; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 45; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 30; Ashford (Iowa) 29; Milligan (Tenn.) 22; Southeastern (Fla.) 17; Texas at Brownsville 10; Bellevue (Neb.) 10; Marian (Ind.) 8; Davenport (Mich.) 7; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 7; St. Francis (Ill.) 5; Houston-Victoria (Texas) 4; Missouri Baptist 3.