2012 Men’s Golf National Championships Qualifiers Announced
By Jake Knabel, NAIA Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the qualifiers for the 2012 NAIA Men's Golf National Championships. The 61st annual event will take place at Creekside Golf Club in Salem, Ore, May 22 – 25. First and second round pairings for the event will be announced Friday by 3 p.m. CDT.
The 159-player field is made up of 20 automatic qualifying schools who won their conference/independent/unaffiliated group tournaments, eight team at-large selections based on the final NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Top 25 Poll, Corban (Ore.) (host berth) and 14 individual qualifiers.
Nine teams that placed in the top 10 at last year’s National Championships return to the field, including defending national titlist and second-ranked Oklahoma Christian. The Eagles lost 2011 National Championships individual medalist Oscar Stark to graduation, but return three golfers who participated in last year’s event. 2011 runner-up British Columbia is back after receiving an at-large bid, while No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City is poised to improve upon last year’s 10th-place finish. The Stars ride into Salem after besting Oklahoma Christian in the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships.
The 14 individual qualifiers includes nine automatic selections and five at-large choices. Each of the automatic selections garnered a spot in the National Championships by winning either his respective conference tournament or regular-season individual title. Of the 14, Thane Ringler of The Master’s (Calif.) and Omar Tejeira of St. Thomas (Fla.) are the only returnees from 2011. The five at-large participants were chosen by the tournament committee.
None of the top-10 individual finishers return from last year’s qualifiers. The highest-placing returnee from the 2011 National Championships is Grand View’s (Iowa) Josh Manske, who shot a 74-73-74-72 – 293 to finish 12th. The Cumberlands’ (Ky.) Aaron Watkins, who finished tied for 50th at the 2011 championships, leads the nation this season in adjusted scoring average.
2012 NAIA Men's Golf National Championships Qualifiers
| Team Qualifers | |
| School | Qualification |
| Bellevue (Neb.) | Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Bethany (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Brescia (Ky.) | Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| British Columbia | At-Large No. 3 |
| Cal State San Marcos | At-Large No. 2 |
| Carroll (Mont.) | Frontier Conference Tournament Champion |
| Corban (Ore.) | Host Berth |
| Cumberlands (Ky.) | Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion |
| Evangel (Mo.) | Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Grand View (Iowa) | Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion |
| Holy Cross (Ind.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Johnson & Wales (Fla.) | At-Large No. 5 |
| Lee (Tenn.) | Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Madonna (Mich.) | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Marian (Ind.) | Mid-Central College Conference Tournament Champion |
| Northwestern (Iowa) | Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Oklahoma Christian | At-Large No. 1 |
| Oklahoma City | Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | At-Large No. 8 |
| Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) | Unaffiliated Group No. 2 Tournament Champion |
| South Carolina Beaufort | At-Large No. 7 |
| Southern Nazarene (Okla.) | At-Large No. 6 |
| Tennessee Wesleyan | Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Texas Wesleyan | Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Union (Tenn.) | TranSouth Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
| Victoria (B.C.) | Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion |
| Wayland Baptist (Texas) | At-Large No. 4 |
| Webber International (Fla.) | The Sun Conference Tournament Champion |
| William Woods (Mo.) | Unaffiliated Group No. 1 Tournament Champion |
| Individual Qualifers | |
| Name | Qualification |
| Justin Burns, Central Baptist (Ark.) | Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
| Jordan Leisinger, Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) | Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
| Jesse Heinly, Concordia (Ore.) | At-Large |
| Adrian Balbas, Davenport (Mich.) | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Regular-Season Medalist |
| Thane Ringler, The Master’s (Calif.) | At-Large |
| Jordan Dickson, Missouri Valley | Heart of America Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
| Brandon Thompson, Morningside (Iowa) | Great Plains Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
| Brett McCurdy Jr., Northwood (Fla.) | At-Large |
| Chase Lindsey, Oklahoma Baptist | At-Large |
| Zach Lindsey, Reinhardt (Ga.) | At-Large |
| Mitch Card, Simpson (Calif.) | Unaffiliated Group No. 2 Individual Medalist |
| Omar Tejeira, St. Thomas (Fla.) | The Sun Conference Individual Medalist |
| Dane Jensen, Westminster (Utah) | Frontier Conference Individual Medalist |
| Nic Ishee, William Carey (Miss.) | Southern States Athletic Conference Individual Medalist |
