The last time Colorado hosted an NCAA golf finals, mankind had not yet walked on the moon.
Yes, it was that long ago — the spring of 1969, to be exact.
But next week that will change, and in a big way. Not one, but two NCAA Championship Finals tournaments will be held in the Denver metro area as both the men’s and women’s Division II events come to town.
The DII men will compete May 17-21 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, home of the CoBank Colorado Open Championships. And the DII women will be at CommonGround Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the CGA, from May 18-21.
An NCAA golf final was last held in Colorado in 1969 when The Broadmoor hosted the Division I men for the fifth time in 17 years. The finals for the Division I women, or the tournaments for either gender in Division II or III have never before come to Colorado, though there have been various NCAA Regionals.
Next week’s national tournaments, part of the NCAA Division II National Championships Festival in which titles in six sports (M&W golf, M&W tennis, softball and women’s lacrosse) will be at stake, will be hosted by Metro State and the Denver Sports Commission.
The men’s NCAA DII finals at Green Valley Ranch May 17-21 will feature 108 competitors — 20 teams and eight individuals. The format will be three rounds of stroke play, followed by two days of medal-match play. The individual champion will be determined after the first three rounds. The top eight teams after 54 holes of stroke play will advance to the medal-match play portion of the championship. The men’s DII finals have utilized a medal-match play format since 2011.
The women’s Division II finals at CommonGround May 18-21 will include a field of 72 golfers — 12 teams and 12 individuals. They’ll all play 72 holes of stroke play.
Tickets for the DII National Festival will be $5 per person per day, or $15 for an all-session pass for the week. Tickets purchased at one site will be valid at all other competition sites.
For more information on the Spring Sports Festival, CLICK HERE.
Though no one from Colorado schools qualified for the NCAA DII finals — the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs’ Colin Prater was the closest, losing out in a playoff at the DII regionals — the fields will be formidable, though the players may not be as recognizable as the top Division I college golfers.
Men’s Finals at GVR
But keep in mind that individual winners of the men’s DII national title have included two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen (1986, from Florida Southern), CBS analyst Gary McCord (1970, from Cal-Riverside), Briny Baird (1994 and ’95, from Valdosta State) and four-time European Tour winner Jeev Milkha Singh (1993, from Abilene Christian).
More close to home, Cheyenne, Wyo., product Josh Creel won the 2012 title, playing for Central Oklahoma after transferring from the University of Colorado.
While 2015 champion Nova Southeastern won’t be back to defend its team title — nor will individual champ Sam Migdal, who was a senior at Central Missouri last year — the top three ranked teams (according to Golfstat) at GVR will be No. 1 Chico State (Calif.), No. 2 Saint Leo University (Fla.) and No. 3 Lynn University (Fla.).
John Coultas, a sophomore at Florida Southern, is the top-ranked Division II player in the nation, according to Golfstat.
Here are the team and individual qualifiers for the DII men finals at GVR:
Teams
St. Thomas Aquinas
Southern New Hampshire
Concordia (New York)
Wilmington (Delaware)
Le Moyne
Central Missouri
Southeastern Oklahoma State
Bellarmine
Tiffin
Central Oklahoma
Lynn
Saint Leo
Florida Southern
West Florida
Barry
Chico State
Oklahoma Christian
Dallas Baptist
California Baptist
Brigham Young-Hawaii
Individuals
Blaze Hogan, Mercyhurst
Tyler Maiman, West Chester
Talon Supak, Illinois-Springfield
Bryce Burke, Arkansas Tech
Richard Mansell, Nova Southeastern
Griffin Brown, Limestone
Brandon Lee, Sonoma State
Calum Hill, Western New Mexico
Women’s Finals at CommonGround
At the women’s DII finals at CommonGround, Indianapolis will be back to defend its team title. Also in the field will be five-time national champ Rollins College (Fla.) and four-time winner Nova Southeastern (Fla.). Rollins is the top ranked women’s team in DII, according to Golfstat. Nova Southeastern is fourth and Indianapolis 10th.
No former individual national champions are in the women’s field at CommonGround. Here are the team and individual qualifiers for the DII women’s finals:
Teams
Augustana (South Dakota)
Northeastern State
Missouri Western State
Indianapolis
Grand Valley State
Findlay
Nova Southeastern
Rollins
Saint Leo
Tarleton State
Dallas Baptist
West Texas A&M
Individuals
Daniela Martinez, Central Oklahoma
Caroline Fredensborg, Arkansas Tech
Rachel Gray, Concordia-St. Paul
Ali Green, Ashland
Kasey Frazier, Wheeling Jesuit
Anastasia Carter, Southern Indiana
Felicia Leftinger, Florida Tech
Paloma Vaccaro, West Florida
Elaine Wood, Montevallo
Erica Wang, California Baptist
Audrey Meisch, Oklahoma Christian
Sterling Hawkins, Academy of Art
