Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech’s James Swash is headed to the Norman Regional as part of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship in an announcement made on Wednesday.
Swash earned an automatic bid as an individual to the regional round after becoming the Individual Champion last week at the Conference USA Men’s Golf Championship, winning the event by two strokes.
“I’m proud of James and the work he put in to winning the C-USA Championship,” said head coach Matt Terry. “I’m looking forward to being with him at regionals. It’s a course that he can play well on and has a good chance to advance to the finals. Now it’s time to continue to work towards that goal.”
The fifth-year senior will compete among a field of 14 teams and five individuals at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in a regional hosted by the University of Oklahoma.
He joins LA Tech golfers Victor Lange (2014, 2015) and Sam Murphy (2022) as the only Bulldogs in program history to receive a bid to compete at the NCAA Regionals as an individual.
The teams competing in the regional include No. 1 Texas Tech, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 5 Wake Forest, No. 6 Duke, No. 7 LSU, No. 8 North Florida, No. 9 Colorado, No. 10 Kansas, No. 11 UNC Wilmington, No. 12 UL-Lafayette, No. 13 Princeton, and No. 14 Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Joining Swash as the individuals playing in the Norman Regional are Luke Gutschewski (Iowa State), Nathan Petronzio (SMU), Bret Gray (Houston), and Vicente Marzilio (North Texas.
Swash became the first LA Tech golfer since 1980 to become an individual medalist, winning the C-USA Championship. It was one of his four top-20 finishes during the 2022-23 season and one of his two top-10 finishes (tied for eighth at the Border Olympics. He finished in the top 35 individually in eight of his 10 tournaments.
The NCAA Regional round is a 54-hole, stroke-play tournament over three days (May 15-17) with 18 holes per day. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals.
