May 5, 2003

Columbia, Mo. -The University of Missouri men's golf squad has qualified for the 2003 NCAA Men's Golf Tournament, members of the NCAA Golf selection committee announced this afternoon. The Tigers will be traveling to Manhattan, Kan., to the Central Regional, which will be played at Colbert Hills Golf Course on May 15-18.

"We're very excited to have the opportunity to return to the NCAA Tournament and to have the chance to play on a course we know very well," Head Coach Tim Robyn said. "We have been preparing for this opportunity all year, and its nice to have that goal come to fruition."

The Tigers will be quite familiar with their surroundings in Manhattan as they played in the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate last fall at Colbert Hills, finishing fourth of 12 teams at the event. Junior Brandon Knaub had one of his best outings of the year, finishing in a tie for third with a score of 224 on the par-72 trek.

This marks the second straight year the Tigers will make an appearance as a team at the NCAA Regional level. Prior to last year's 20th-place finish in Little Rock, Ark., Mizzou had not qualified for regional competition since 1995. This will be the sixth time in school history that the Tigers have qualified for regionals.

MU is one of nine Big 12 schools to qualify, and all nine will be competing with the Tigers in the Central Region. If Mizzou finishes in the top 10 of the regional, they will advance to the NCAA National Championships, which will be played on May 27-30 at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. The top two individuals that are not on the championship qualifying teams will also advance to the final level.

Live scoring of the event will be provided at www.MUTigers.com, www.GolfStat.com and www.KStateSports.com. For more information on Missouri men's golf, log on to www.MUTigers.com.