ST. GEORGE, Utah (May 8, 2019) – The Lubbock Christian University men's golf team is set to make its NCAA postseason debut (as a team) at the 2019 NCAA Division II Men's Golf South Central/West Regional Championships beginning Thursday. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at The Ledges Golf Club.

The Chaparrals five-player lineup will include Zach Burkholder, Jeff Maciejewski, Maxwell Mitchell, Tanner Thompson and Cam Toombs.

LCU enters the tournament as the South Central Region No.10-seed and is one of five Heartland Conference programs in the field. The South Central region includes represented members Oklahoma Christian (No.1-Seed), St. Mary's (No.2-Seed), Colorado School of Mines (No.3-Seed), Western New Mexico (No.4-Seed), Dixie State (No.5-Seed), Midwestern State (No.6-Seed), Colorado Mesa (No.7-Seed), St. Edward's (No.8-Seed), Arkansas-Fort Smith (No.9-Seed) and LCU. The 10-team representatives from the West Region include Chico State (No.1-Seed), Western Washington (No.2-Seed), Sonoma State (No.3-Seed), Cal-State East Bay (No.4-Seed), Cal State Monterey Bay (No.5-Seed), Simon Fraser (No.6-Seed), Stanislaus State (No.7-Seed), Concordia (Ore.) (No.8-Seed), UC San Diego (No.9-Seed) and Holy Names (No.10-Seed). Overall, 20 teams and eight individuals from make up the 108-player tournament field.

LCU AT THE NCAA REGIONALS: The 2019 NCAA Division II South Central / West Region Tournament marks LCU's first postseason appearance as a team. They qualified by garnering the South Central Region's final at-large berth. In 2015, Scott Brown qualified individually for the region tournament, which was held in Las Cruces, N.M. Brown finished in a share of 48^th.

SUMMARIZING THE CHAPS: The Chaps had a trio of top-three finishes during the 2018-19 playing season. The program's best finish this season was at the WNMU Fall Intercollegiate (10/1/18 – 10/2/18) and the Hillcat Spring Invitational (3/18/19 – 3/19/19), where they each finished in second place. Three of LCU's five participants have played in at least 17 tournaments with LCU, led by Cam Toombs (36). Toombs (three top-10 finishes this season) is the only member with a tournament title under his belt, but all five members have at least had a top-eight tournament finish in their LCU careers. Maciejewski has two top-10 finishes this season, including a share of second place at the WNMU Fall Intercollegiate.

TEE IT UP: Thursday, LCU opens play with Burkholder teeing off at 9:20 a.m. (times are cental) (hole-1). The Chaps will continue with the following four tee times (leading up to 10 a.m.). The Chaps will be split into threesomes joined by individuals and members of Oakland, Calif. Based Holy Names University.
                      
LCU
9:20 a.m.       Zach Burkholder
9:30 a.m.       Max Mitchell
9:40 a.m.       Tanner Thompson
9:50 a.m.       Jeffrey Maciejewski
10:00 a.m.     Cam Toombs
                     
HNU
9:20 a.m.       Jed Enomoto
9:30 a.m.       Ryan Lu
9:40 a.m.       Aniceto Mandanas
9:50 a.m.       Heete Yang
10:00 a.m.    Zachary McClure
                      
Individuals
9:20 a.m.       Lucas McCubbin (TX A&M-Commerce)
9:30 a.m.       Cody Hall (CSU-San Bernadino)
9:40 a.m.       Nathan McCann (CSU-Pueblo)
9:50 a.m.       Jared Kinoshita (Hawaii-Hilo)
10:00 a.m.    Chase Carlson (Colorado Christian)
-Times are Central
 
THE MAIN COURSE: The three-round tournament will all be played at The Ledges Golf Course. It is a par-72 course (out:36, in:36) with a layout of 7,145 yards (front: 3,637; back: 3,508). The late Matt Dye designed the course and it features impressive red rock backdrops, immaculately designed greens, and expansive view of Snow Canyon State Park. It was voted as one of the "10 best new public courses" in 2007 by Golf Digest magazine.
 
COACH-TALK: LCU golf head coach Gary Belt, who has led the program since January 2011, had the following to say about the course and how it fits his team:
 
"The Ledges course is a 'very real' challenge. There is plenty of space for drives but small, quick greens that will test our short games. The course requires players to be disciplined with club selections and course management. It is similar to the openness of The Rawls Course. The greens have plenty of slopes and valleys. It will be a great test for us."