Men's Golf Earns 8th Straight NCAA Championships Berth

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Armstrong Atlantic State men's golf team has earned a berth to the 2009 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships, released today. The Pirates will be making their eighth straight NCAA regionals appearance.

AASU is one of the 10 teams in the Southeast Regional. The Southeast and the South regional will compete in a Super Regional on May 4-6 at the Robert Trent Jones course at the Shoals in Florence, Ala., hosted by the University of North Alabama.

The Pirates are one of six schools from the Peach Belt Conference in the field. Columbus State is the top seed, followed by GCSU and Clayton State. USC Aiken is fourth and Lander is fifth. Coker, from Conference Carolinas, is the sixth seed, folowed by Barton, South Atlantic champion Newberry, Belmont Abbey and AASU.

Head coach Michael Butler has led the Pirates to a berth in the NCAA Championships each season since 2002, just one year after the men's golf program was reinstated at AASU.

The 10-team Southeast regional will compete concurrently with the 10-team South regional. The top five teams from each Super Regional will advance to the 2009 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships on May 19-22 at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Washington.