Tournament Town Championship Preview Field Announced:Kim Strable(Greensboro Sports Commission) says this field will be “Strong”

TOURNAMENT TOWN CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW FIELD ANNOUNCED

Many of the elite NCAA III Men’s Golf programs will play at the site of the 2018 national championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. June 13, 2017 — The Greensboro Sports Commission has announced the 18-team field for the 2017 Tournament Town Championship Preview, an advance opportunity for some of the top NCAA III Men’s Golf teams to compete at Grandover Resort, the site of the 2018 NCAA III Men’s Golf Championships. The Preview will take place September 23-25 and will feature eleven of the top fifteen finishers from the 2017 NCAA Championships held May 16-19 at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL. The elite field includes four teams from Georgia, three from Texas and North Carolina, two from Virginia, as well as teams from Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, and Tennessee.

The Tournament Town field is highlighted by 2017 National Champion Wittenberg University (OH) which edged Greensboro’s Guilford College for a two-stroke victory, the Tiger’s first ever national golf title. The other top five NCAA Championship finishers who will also be competing in the Preview include The University of Texas at Tyler, Greensboro College, and Golfstat #1 ranked Huntingdon College. The field of 18 includes 16 schools that finished in the Top 25 in the final Golfstat rankings, 8 of whom finishing ranked in the Top 10.

“This is perhaps the strongest field assembled since 2010 when the concept of staging an elite early-season tournament at the NCAA Championships site was introduced,” said Kim Strable, President of the Greensboro Sports Commission which serves as co-host of the Preview along with institutional host Guilford College. “With only 10 strokes separating the top five teams at a 72-hole NCAA golf championship, we have the opportunity in September to recreate that competitive drama at Grandover, providing a glimpse of what we will likely experience next May.” The 2018 NCAA III Men’s Golf National Championships are slated for May 15-18, with the field of 42 teams trimmed to 18 for the final two rounds on Grandover’s Championship East Course.

 
School                            NCAA Finish       GolfStat
Wittenberg University             1                 2
Guilford College                  2                12
University of Texas at Tyler      3                 3
Huntingdon College                4                 1
Greensboro College                4                 5
Methodist University              7                 4
Illinois Wesleyan University      9                11
LaGrange College                 10                10
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 11                 9
Emory University                 12                 8
Washington & Lee University      14                14
Oglethorpe University                              15
Concordia University Texas                         24
Christopher Newport University                     32
Transylvania University                            40
Berry College                                      18
Sewanee: The University of the South               19
Gustavus Adolphus College	                   21

About the links at the Grandover Resort Golf and Spa
East Course
Opened in March 1996, the East Course was designed by Gary Panks and David Graham. Many of the greens complexes were designed to give a stadium effect around them. The tree lined fairways provide a seasonal blaze of color offering guests the feeling of being in a nature preserve in America’s heartland of golf.

In 2011, the East Course added six new tee areas to stretch the total yardage to 7250 from the championship tees. The course is currently undergoing a conversion of its greens from Bent to TifEagle bermuda.

West Course
Opened in May 1997, the West Course is formed with the naturally rolling terrain and elevation changes found in the Piedmont of North Carolina. A links style layout flows away from the resort for the first 9 holes and returns for the inward nine. The West Course measures 6800 yards from the championship tees.

Grandover Resort has hosted numerous corporate and charity golf events over the years as well as competitive events such as:
2011 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf National Championship
2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regional Championship
2012 Nationwide Tour Open Qualifier
2014 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf National Championship
2015 Web.com Tour Qualifier
2015 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf National Championship
2017 Web.com Tour Qualifier
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About The Greensboro Sports Commission

Founded in 1989, the Greensboro Sports Commission (GSC) was created to foster economic development through coordinating and developing Greensboro’s role as a leading site for sports events involving youth, collegiate, amateur and professional organizations. As a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, the GSC serves as clearinghouse in supporting event rights holders as well as local facility owners in the hosting of Tournament Town sporting events. The GSC also maintains important liaison roles with key support groups such as the Greensboro Sports Council, the Tournament Host of Greensboro, Inc., and the North Carolina Sports Association.