Montgomery, AL – When the Dalton State men’s golf team competes Monday through Wednesday at the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament at the Montgomery Country Club they will be playing for an opportunity to play in next month’s National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament in Daytona Beach.
The No. 11 ranked Roadrunners need to win the SSAC Championship or rely on votes from a panel tasked with the responsibility of choosing from among teams that are not automatic qualifiers.
Unlike basketball, the SSAC’s only guaranteed spot in the NAIA tournament is the conference tournament champion.
Defending NAIA Champion Coastal Georgia is currently ranked No. 1 in the country. Based on the NAIA Coaches Poll, the Mariners would likely receive a national bid in any case. Going into the conference tournament, they have three of the top four golfers in the country.
Coastal Georgia seniors Allen Bradford and Alastair Tidcombe are ranked one and two. Dalton State sophomore Sean Elliott is third. Mariner Senior Hunter Cornelius is fourth.
Fortunately for everyone else, only four scores count. Other SSAC players in the Top-150 rankings include: 13 - Zach Day (JR) Mobile; 30 - Alan Barnhardt (SR) Coastal Georgia; 57 - Trevor Smith (Jr) Coastal Georgia; 59 - Hrafin Gudlaugsson (SR) Faulkner; 81 - Chase Jones (Jr.) Dalton State; 103 - Hunter Fikes (SR) Faulkner; 117 - Josh Moss (SR) Mobile;
125 - Mike Herbinger (JR) Mobile; 129 - Maximillian Bruck (SO) Dalton State; 131 - Levi Nix (JR) Dalton State and 134 - Josh Brooks (FR) Mobile.
The Dalton State men’s team remains at the No. 10 spot in this week’s Golfstat Rankings which are based on a combination of factors, including strength of schedule and results against NAIA competition.
The final 2015 regular season NAIA Golf Coaches Top-25 Poll was released Friday evening by the NAIA office in Kansas City, MO.
Notes: (All information dates back to 2000) Coastal Georgia has earned its second all-time No. 1 ranking today…The Mariners join Oklahoma City and William Woods (Mo.) as the schools who have tasted No. 1 this year… 10 teams have been No. 1 all-time… Oklahoma City leads the NAIA with 39 all-time No. 1 rankings, followed by former member Oklahoma Christian (28) and Texas Wesleyan (5)… Only Wayland Baptist (Texas) and Coastal Georgia appeared at No. 1 in 2014… Oklahoma City has never been ranked outside of the top five… Oklahoma City (2010, 2004, 2003, 2002) is the only Preseason No. 1 team to go on to win the National Championships during the same season.
2015 NAIA Men’s Golf Coaches Top 25 Poll – No. 3 (April 10)
|
RANK
|
LAST
|
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
3
|
Coastal Georgia (9)
|
339
|
|
2
|
1
|
Oklahoma City (4)
|
334
|
|
3
|
2
|
William Woods (Mo.)
|
324
|
|
4
|
4
|
British Columbia
|
309
|
|
5
|
6
|
Cal State San Marcos
|
294
|
|
6
|
5
|
Wayland Baptist (Texas)
|
293
|
|
7
|
7
|
Johnson & Wales (Fla.)
|
277
|
|
8
|
8
|
Texas Wesleyan
|
261
|
|
9
|
9
|
USC Beaufort (S.C.)
|
256
|
|
10
|
11
|
Grand View (Iowa)
|
248
|
|
11
|
10
|
Dalton State (Ga.)
|
131*
|
|
12
|
12
|
Victoria (B.C.)
|
233
|
|
13
|
13
|
Northwood (Fla.)
|
217
|
|
14
|
14
|
Webber International (Fla.)
|
206
|
|
15
|
16
|
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)
|
185
|
|
16
|
15
|
Concordia (Ore.)
|
182
|
|
17
|
17
|
Oklahoma Baptist
|
182
|
|
18
|
20
|
Thomas (Ga.)
|
152
|
|
19
|
RV
|
Faulkner (Ala.)
|
147
|
|
20
|
21
|
Tennessee Wesleyan
|
145
|
|
21
|
19
|
Mount Mercy (Iowa)
|
134
|
|
22
|
21
|
Union (Ky.)
|
113
|
|
23
|
23
|
The Master’s (Calif.)
|
93
|
|
24
|
24
|
Corban (Ore.)
|
86
|
|
25
|
18
|
Mobile (Ala.)
|
84
|
|
|
|
|
|
Others receiving votes: Bethany (Kan.) 69; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 58; Warner (Fla.) 43; Houston-Victoria (Texas) 26; Texas at Brownsville 15; AIB (Iowa) 14; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 12; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 11; Ashford (Iowa) 3; Indiana Wesleyan 3.
* Due to an error in the ratings system, Dalton State’s (Ga.) point value does not reflect their actual ranking