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Jones to Play in NCAA Men's Golf Championships
May 06, 2003 | Men's Golf
May 6, 2003
The record-setting sophomore season for University of Louisville men's golfer Brett Jones just got a little sweeter as the second team All-Conference USA selection became the first Cardinal golfer to receive an at large bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships when he was one of six individual players named to the Central Regional to be played at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kansas on May 15-17.
Heading to the Central Regional, one of three regional tournaments, Jones is one of 18 players across the country to receive at-large bids to the championships. A total of 27 teams and six individuals were selected for each regional competition with ten teams and two individuals advancing from each regional to the championships finals on May 27-30 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
"This has obviously been a terrific year for Brett and we're extremely honored to see him cap it off with a berth to the NCAA Championships," fourth-year head coach Mark Crabtree said. "He's one of the best players in this part of the country and the first U of L golfer to receive an at-large bid to the championships ... it's just a tremendous honor for him and for this program."
The 2001 Mr. Golf for the state of Kentucky as a senior at Paducah's Tilghman High School, Jones has excelled under the tutelage of Crabtree and is quietly staking his claim as one of the best golfers in U of L history. Approaching the conclusion of his sophomore season, Jones owns a 73.2 career stroke average, nearly a full stroke under the school record, and nine career top 10 finishes, tying Brad Faulkner for the sixth-highest total in school history.
As a freshman, Jones posted a 73.76 stroke average, the second-best mark in school history and just four strokes off the record-setting pace of teammate Grant Sturgeon, to earn Conference USA Freshman of the Year laurels and help the Cards boast the nation's fifth-ranked freshman class.
As a sophomore, Jones has taken his game to another level and developed into one of the nation's top collegiate golfers. He posted a blistering 70.9 average in five fall events to rank No. 19 nationally at the semester break and carried that hot start over to the spring campaign where he posted an equally impressive 73.9 average in seven events. Heading into the Atlanta Intercollegiate and the NCAA Regionals, Jones owns a 72.7 stroke average for the season, nearly a full stroke under the U of L record for single season stroke average of 73.7 set by Sturgeon a year ago.
Jones honed his game on the amateur circuit last summer when he finished fifth out of 178 competitors at the Southwestern Amateurs, advanced to the second round of match play at the USGA National Public Links, notched a third-place finish at the Kentucky Amateurs and a 10th-place finish at the Kentucky Open.
