Ferris State Men's Golf Tied For 10th Overall After First Round At NCAA D2 National Championships

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's golf team opened action on Tuesday (May 21) at the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championships with a 288 team score at the Orange County National Golf Center in Winter Garden, Fla.

The Bulldogs began the national championships in a tie for 10th place overall at +4 for the opening round on the par 71 course that measured in at 7,419 total yards.

Overall, in the 20-team field, both Oklahoma Christian and Colorado Christan shot a seven-under 277 figure and sit tied for first overall following the opening round of action in the 54-hole stroke play portion of the championships. West Florida and Grand Valley State shared third place overall at five-under par (279) with Cal-State Monterey Bay fifth at four-under (280) par.

A total of only 11 strokes separate the top 13 teams in the field after the first of three rounds of competition. FSU is tied for 10th along with Henderson State (Ark.), Western New Mexico and Harding (Ark.) in the field.

All five Ferris State golfers shot 75 or better in round one with Nathan Kraynyk leading the way in a tied for 19th place overall with a one-under 70 score. FSU's Caleb Bond and Zach Koerner both carded a one-over 72 and are tied for 43rd individually with McCoy Biagioli tied for 68th at three-over 74 and Sam Havey tied for 81st with a four-over 75 mark.

The individual leader is Cal-State Monterey Bay's Tony Tao with a eight-under 63 in round one.

FSU is back on the tee for round two on Wednesday (May 22) starting on hole one at 12:05 p.m. (ET).

The 2024 NCAA D2 Championships are being held May 21-25 as part of the Division II Spring Sports Festival in the Orlando area. The Bulldogs are one of 20 team from across the country competing for the national championship in men's golf.

Overall, at the national finals, all 20 teams and eight individuals will complete 54 holes of stroke play running Tuesday thru Thursday. Following 54 holes of stroke play, an individual champion will be declared along with finishers 2-10 based on cumulative total score and any applicable tiebreakers.

The top eight teams after 54 holes of play will then be placed into a bracket and seeded based on 54-hole scores with the quarterfinals and semifinals taking place on Friday (May 24) followed by the championship on Saturday (May 25). The pairings for the quarterfinals will be Seed #1 versus Seed #8, Seed #2 versus Seed #7, Seed #3 versus Seed #6 and Seed #4 versus Seed #5, competing in head-to-head medal play (stroke play over 18 holes and low score wins).

The Bulldogs earned their trip to the national championships after coming away with a fifth-place team finish at the NCAA D2 Midwest/Central Super Regional Championships that wrapped up on May 11 in Edmond, Okla. FSU shot a final-round 277 team figure and finished at 834 or six-under for the 54-hole super regional tournament to earn its spot in the national championships.

This year's national championships berth represents FSU's 17th all-time in program history and first since 2019.

The top five teams and the top two student-athletes not with a team from each regional advanced to the finals at the Orange Country National Golf Center and Lodge in Winter Garden, Fla. The finals are being hosted by Rollins College and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission.

In 2017, the Bulldogs earned runner-up honors in the 2017 NCAA-II Midwest/Central Super Regional in Kearney, Neb., before going on to a national quarterfinal finish. In 2019, the Bulldogs placed tied for third at the super regional and reached the NCAA D2 National Championships, placing 20th overall.

This year makes this the 19th time in the past 21 years in which the Bulldogs have had representation in the NCAA Tournament when it has been held. The stretch of NCAA Championship representation in men's golf ranks as one of the best stretches in the country.

Ferris State also captured its 22nd all-time GLIAC Championship by beating rival Grand Valley State in the league finale on April 14 in Augusta, Mich.

Visit the link below for live scoring and results from the NCAA D2 National Championships:
https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=29189