The Coastal Carolina University men's golf squad will head to Galloway National Golf Club in Galloway, N.J. for the 2009 NCAA Regionals, May 14-16.  The format has changed this year to a six-location format with 13 teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams.  The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the finals from each regional.  The previous format had 27 teams at each of three regional sites, along with a select number of individuals.

This will be the sixth-straight NCAA appearance for Coastal Carolina, as the squad has advanced out of the regionals into the NCAA Championship on three occasions in 2005, 2006 and 2007.  In their most recent Championship, the Chanticleers posted the top team finish in any NCAA Championship by a Big South school, finishing fifth at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va.

Meanwhile, Liberty freshman golfer and Big South Men's Golf Freshman of the Year Robert Karlsson has earned the first individual nod to the NCAA Tournament in program history.  Karlsson (Kalmar, Sweden), the only individual selected from the Big South Conference, will also compete in the Galloway Regional as one of five individuals.  He has been ranked as high as No. 14 nationally by Golfstat (April 2) and No. 35 by Golfweek (April 2).  Karlsson is currently ranked No. 159 in the country after a couple 28th-place finishes and a 12th place in the last three tournaments he appeared in, after traveling in consecutive weeks to tournament locations in California, Missouri, South Carolina and Virginia.  Liberty has twice made the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Tournament as a team, earning at-large bids in 2003 & 2006.  Both of the Flames’ at-large appearances still serve as the only at-large berths by any Liberty sports program to their respective NCAA Tournaments.

Karlsson is the first Big South golfer to earn an individual at-large berth since Charleston Southern's Shawn Hall in 2006, and is the sixth overall.

Ranked No. 46 in the nation by Golfweek, the Chanticleers earned their way into the 2009 field by picking up their sixth-straight Big South Conference title and the League's automatic bid with a 31-shot victory over runner-up Liberty.  Redshirt-senior and Big South Player of the Year Zack Byrd, currently ranked No. 21 nationally, earned medalist honors at the Big South Championship for the second time in his career and just the second two-time medalist in Big South Conference history. Teammates junior Sam Lyons and sophomore David Dannelly tied for runner-up honors, while redshirt-freshman Drew Ernst and sophomore Tripp McAllister also finished in the top six as all five Coastal Carolina players earned All-Big South honors this year, the first school ever to accomplish that in League history.

The championships will be conducted May 26-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.  The University of Toledo is the host institution for this year’s championships.

Below is the entire Galloway Regional field:

Galloway National Golf Club – Galloway, New Jersey
Hosted by Columbia University

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1.    Clemson
2.    Alabama
3.    Illinois
4.    Tennessee
5.    Wake Forest
6.    Colorado State
7.    Kent State
8.    Coastal Carolina
9.    Virginia
10.    Penn State
11.    Minnesota
12.    VCU
13.    Columbia
14.    Sacred Heart

Individuals:
1.    Kevin O’Connell, North Carolina
2.    Dan Woltman, Wisconsin
3.    Robert Karlsson, Liberty
4.    Peter Williamson, Dartmouth
5.    Eric Hawerchak, Central Connecticut