NCAA DI men's golf tournament held at The Reserve at Spanos Park
The NCAA Division I Men’s golf tournament picks six locations to host its regionals and this year Stockton was chosen as one of the six locations.
From May 16-18, 15 teams from all over the country made their way to The Reserve at Spanos Park, with hopes of punching their ticket for the finals.
The Reserve served as the West Coast side region of the tournament and saw the likes of some familiar west coast teams in Arizona State, Stanford, UC Davis and BYU. In addition to West Coast teams, other teams such as LSU, Houston, and UAB had their time on the green in Stockton.
“We ended up getting quite a few PAC 12 teams, we got Stanford, Oregon, Washington,” Tim Walsh, general manager of The Reserve, said. “They're all here and we'd sure love for the people at Stockton to know what's going on. We've been putting a lot of social media out as have the teams and the colleges.”
Not only did spectators at the tournament get to see the various amounts of talent coming from power five conferences but they also got to see The Reserve’s golf course which also serves as the practice home of the University of the Pacific’s men’s golf team. Two years ago, with the influence of Pacific men’s golf coach John Cook, the Tigers launched the Walter Chang Golf and Learning Center located within The Reserve.
Along with finding a practice home for Pacific men’s golf, the university partnered with Visit Stockton and The Reserve in the bid processes that earned them a spot in the NCAA DI men’s golf tournament this year and in 2018. The Reserve is a high-level championship golf course that for three days provided top golfers like RJ Manke of Washington and Mason Andersen of Arizona State challenges on the green.
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“We've had a little bit of a breeze and wind the last few days, with it being springtime here in Northern California and the course is designed as a link-style golf course with the wind in mind,” Cook said. “So some of the downwind holes are playing easy and then the holes back into the land are quite challenging for these guys.”
At the end of the three-day tournament in Stockton, Arizona State, Stanford, BYU, Oregon, and Liberty were in the top five spots. The Sundevils lead the way at The Reserve with a total of 826 points. While Pacific didn’t make the regionals this year, as it finished ninth in the West Coast Conference Championship, being one of the hosts allows them to showcase the golf scene in Stockton.
“Stockton is a great sports town and I just think it's an honor and a privilege to be able to host one of the six events on the six regional sites around the country here,” Cook said. “It's just a great opportunity for us to continue to help us get recruits so that we have a chance to hopefully host this again, in the future and we'll be participating in it.”
Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: NCAA DI men's golf tournament held at The Reserve at Spanos Park
