NCAA Men's Golf Championship  
Blessings Golf Course | Fayetteville, Ark.   
Friday-Wednesday | May 24-29 
Par 72 | 7,550

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The SMU men's golf team heads to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the NCAA Championships, May 23-29.
The Mustangs are coming off a fourth place finish at the Athens Regional to advance to the championship. This is the first team appearance at the championships since 2015 when Bryson DeChambeau claimed the individual title.
 
THE EVENT: The Blessings Golf Course is a 7,550-yard track, which will play at par 72. The championship begins with the practice round on Thursday, followed by three rounds of stroke play with a morning and afternoon wave each day. The rounds Friday-Sunday begin at 6:50 a.m. for the morning group and 12:10 p.m. for the afternoon wave. Pairings will be based on seeds for the first two rounds, and will readjust for the third round based on the 36-hole scores. The low 15 teams and low 9 individuals advance to the fourth round on Monday to determine the individual champion, and the top 8 teams that will advance to the quarterfinals for match play. Match play begins Tuesday, with quarterfinals at 7 a.m. and semifinals at 1:30 p.m. The final round of match play to name the champions will take place on Wednesday at 2:25 p.m.
 
THE FIELD: There are 30 teams and six individuals competing in the NCAA Championship: Illinois, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Cal, UNLV, Georgia, Duke, Vanderbilt, SMU, Liberty, Oklahoma State, Auburn, Baylor, Louisville, North Florida, Stanford, Arizona State, North Carolina, Georgia Southern, LSU, Texas, TCU, Clemson, Pepperdine, USC, Texas A&M, BYU, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech and South Carolina.
 
INDIVIDUALS: Edwin Yi (Oregon), Billy Tom Sargent (WKU), Tripp Kinney (Iowa State), Kyler Dunkle (Utah), Julian Perico (Arkansas) and Zach Smith (UC Santa Barbara) will represent their schools.
 
REPRESENTING SMU:
Mac Meissner
Noah Goodwin
Ben Wong
Jackson Markham
Ollie Osborne
Henrik Olsson (Alternate)
 
RESULTS/COVERAGE: Live results will be posted on Golfstat.com throughout the round. The Golf Channel will have exclusive pre-game and post-game coverage. Live coverage will take place for the fourth round on Monday, May 27 (3-7 p.m. CT), Tuesday, May 28 (10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CT and 3-7 p.m.) and on Wednesday, May 29 for the final round of match play (3-7 p.m. CT).
 
LAST TIME OUT (NCAA ATHENS REGIONAL): ATHENS, Ga. (SMU) – The SMU men's golf team advanced to the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship after placing fourth at the Athens Regional on Wednesday afternoon. Going into the final round, the Mustangs were in a four way tie for the final advancing slot. The team wasted no time carding nine birdies on the front nine. Getting below the advancing team line, the Mustangs had to battle in the last eight holes. The Ponies fired a 1-under round, their best of the tournament, for a 16-over finish (297-288-283–868), finishing in the top five to advance to the NCAA Championship. "This week was an amazing team effort. Everyone contributed and came through in the clutch when they were needed. Noah [Goodwin],the first two days kept us alive and then Ben [Wong] and Ollie [Osborne] carried us the last day," said head coach Jason Enloe. "I'm especially thankful to Coach [Chris] Parra who did a great job this week and all the support we got from parents of our players. It truly was a team effort in every aspect." The top finisher for the team was sophomore Noah Goodwin (+3, 70-71-75–216), who helped the team stay in the running for the first two rounds.  Goodwin finished with a share of 18th place. Freshmen Ben Wong (+7, 75-77-68–220) and Ollie Osborne (+5, 76-73-69 – 218) both carded subpar rounds, Wong with a 3-under and Osborne with a 2-under round. The pair played its best round of the tournament to lead the team on the final round. Sophomore Mac Meissner (+6, 76-71-72–219) played a 3-over third round and finished tied for 28th. "Mac was his usual consistent self and played great the last two days," said Enloe. Rounding out the team lineup, junior Jackson Markham (+12, 78-73-74–225) finished with a share of 52nd place. "I'm so proud of Jackson who really fought hard and played great," said Enloe. Host Georgia claimed both the team and individual titles of the tournament. Davis Thompson was the top finisher at 8-under par. The Mustangs make their 20th appearance at the NCAA Championships, and first since 2015 when Bryson DeChambeau was the individual champion. "Now we must focus on our next goal as I believe this team can make a run in Fayetteville," said Enloe. The team is set to compete at the championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas, May 24-29. 
 
IN THE RANKINGS: SMU ranked 60th in the final season rankings on Golfstat. Two Mustangs rank in the top 100 individually: No. 26 Noah Goodwin and No. 70 Mac Meissner. The highest ranking this season for
the Mustangs came in at No. 5, after a third place finish at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. The team held on to a No. 6 ranking until the Tiger Invitational in March where they finished second behind then No. 10 Auburn.
 
SEASON IN REVIEW: The SMU men's golf team had two tournament wins at the Invitational at the Ocean Course and the Maridoe Intercollegiate. The Mustangs also picked up two match play wins against Army and Nevada. The team had two second place finishes in their home event, the Trinity Forest Invitational, and at the Tiger Invitational.  An injury and an incorrect scorecard at The Goodwin, resulting in a team disqualification and a last place finish, led to the 35-spot plummet of the team's ranking on Golfstat, after being in the top 20 all season.
 
AAC ACCOLADES: Sophomore Mac Meissner was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, after winning the individual title at the conference championship. Meissner was a unanimous selection to the All-Conference Team. He was joined by fellow Mustang sophomore Noah Goodwin on the All-Conference Team. Meissner earned November's Golfer of the Month, posting a second place overall finish at the Maridoe Intercollegiate and a top ten finish at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. He earned his second accolade as Player of the Week (2/27), after a third place finish at the Tiger Invitational. Goodwin also earned Player of the Week (3/20), after posting back to back top ten finishes at the Tiger Invitational and the Bandon Dunes Championship.
 
SMU AT NCAA: The Mustangs have made 19 NCAA Finals appearances, advancing from regionals eight times. The Mustangs won the national championship in 1954, with the team made up of Floyd Addington, Stewart Carrell, Tom Towry and Bryan Honts. The last time SMU made an appearance at the finals in 2015, Bryson DeChambeau claimed the individual title in posting an 8-under, 280 score. SMU has eight top-ten finishes when competing at the NCAA Finals.
 
PLAYERS ON THE WATCHLIST: Mac Meissner and Ben Wong were named to the Arnold Palmer Watchlist in the fall, with Meissner making an appearance in the spring one, as well. Meissner was also on the Haskins Award Watchlist in the fall and was joined by fellow Mustang Noah Goodwin in the spring.
 
WELCOME TO THE HILLTOP: SMU head coach Jason Enloe has announced the addition of Dawson Ovard, who has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Mustangs for the 2019-20 season.
 
Ovard makes his way to the Hilltop from Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas. Ovard has eight top-5 AJGA finishes and a win at the 2016 Scott Robertson Memorial. His 8-under, 64 round at the Junior PGA Championship in 2017 set the record for the lowest-ever first round in history. He also has three career top-10 finishes at the Future Masters and has been named to the Jimmy Walker Challenge and ACDS 2017 Junior All-Star Teams.
 
SMU U.S. AMATEUR SUCCESS: Since 1998, four Mustangs have won the U.S. Amateur, more than any collegiate program during that span. DeChambeau is the fourth, joining the class consisted of Kelly Kraft (2011), Colt Knost (2007) and Hank Kuehne (1998).
 
TRINITY FOREST (HOME OF SMU GOLF): Opened in the fall of 2016, Trinity Forest Golf Club became the new home course for SMU Golf. Trinity Forest resembles many of the great old courses of the Northeast and Great Britain, featuring a links style course on a rolling meadow with tall native grasses and dramatic bunkering and green complexes. Trinity Forest is the home of the PGA TOUR's AT&T Byron Nelson Championship.
 
The team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw – Coore & Crenshaw, Inc. – built both the championship golf course as well as the short course. The design of Trinity Forest honors classic golf courses with traditional, strategic golf and great artistry as the guiding philosophy.
 
Located in the 6,000 acre Great Trinity Forest near the Trinity River Audubon Center about 10 minutes south of downtown Dallas, the 400-acre site consists of an 18-hole championship golf course, a world-class practice facility, a clubhouse, the Payne Stewart Training Center (practice academy for SMU's golf teams) and a teaching center for The First Tee of Greater Dallas.