Success for Irish in NCAA regionals

Three Irish golfers successfully negotiated the NCAA men’s regional championships to earn a tee time at the US national collegiate finals.

Gareth Shaw and Cian McNamara helped Eastern Tennessee State University reach the NCAA Championships for first time since 2001, while Niall Turner will also fly west to Oregon at the end of the month as part of a University of Minnessota quintet.

Shaw, from Lisburn, and Limerickman McNamara helped ETSU’s Buccaneers fire a final-round three-under-par 285 to finish eighth on the team leaderboard on Saturday in the NCAA West Regional at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course in Arizona.

The top-10 finish won them a berth in the NCAA Championships from May 31 to June 3 in Sunriver, Oregon.

Wales’ Rhys Davies led the way for ETSU thanks to a third place finish at 12-under, 204, but Shaw also enjoyed a pair of sub-70 rounds and finished tied for 11th at eight-under (69-67-72=208).

Shaw’s fellow sophomore McNamara finished the event at two-over (72-73-73=218).

Cork golfer Turner helped the University of Minnesota’s Gophers to a final round 291 and a sixth-placed finish at the NCAA Central Regional tournament in Chardon, Ohio.

Turner, in his junior year, had opened strongly with a one-under-par round of 70 around the Sand Ridge course on Thursday before sliding back in the field with a second-round 77, but he rallied with a 73 on Saturday to tie for 30th on the individual honours table with a +7 total of 220.

Minnesota, who won the national title in 2002, now advance to the finals for 26th time and its seventh appearance since 1998, the most of any northern school. Carlow sisters Tara, 20, and Karen Delaney, 21, team-mates at Kent State University, had already qualified for the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship which begin on Tuesday at the Scarlet Course, across state in Columbus, Ohio.

Kent State earned their place in the 72-hole finals after tying for sixth place in a 21-team field at the NCAA Central Region in Texas earlier this month. Sophomore Tara Delaney tied for an individual fourth place.