The Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) Sea Lions golf team captured its fourth Region II championship and clinched its 21st National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) appearance with a slim victory over Cal State East Bay 892-896 on April 22.
The win took place at the Cypress Ridge Golf Course near San Luis Obispo.
“It has been a special year for us winning 6 of 12 tournaments this season. The Region II championship is very special for us and we look forward to the competition of the NAIA tournament,” Ben Foster, PLNU’s golf head coach.
The other tournaments won by the Sea Lions this season were the Masters Fall Invitational, Grand Canyon Fall Classic, Concordia Eagle Invitational, Drake/Carlton Oaks Collegiate and Point Loma Smee Builders Invitational.
Other participants in the Region II championship were the Masters’ College (927), Concordia (934), Holy Names (939), Cal State San Marcos (980), Dominican (1,017), Biola (1,031) and William Jessop (1,094).
PLNU junior Sam Cyr led all players with a score of 214 two-under (74-69-71) and posted his first tournament win of the season, while freshman Joel Salmond (225) and senior Brandan Kelley (227) placed fifth and sixth overall.
“This has been a good learning experience for us and we have had a good year as a team,” Cyr said.
The top six players in the Region II championship earn an automatic berth to the All-Region II team.
Cyr has also been selected All-American the past two years and is likely to be selected for an unprecedented third year in a row as a PLNU golfer. He won four tournaments in 2007, was named Region II Player of the Year and PLNU Most Valuable Player.
In addition to his achievements at PLNU, Cyr was recently selected to the national team to play in the 2008 World University Games from September 2-5 at the Sun City Resort in Sun City, South Africa.
“I feel like I’ve improved overall this year even though it hasn’t shown up in the scores; but I’ve been getting better of late,” Cyr said.
Cyr returns to the nationals after finishing second place last year.
“Sam is a great player and a great young man. He has his sights set on winning the NAIA title this year after finishing as runner-up last year,” Foster said.
While Cyr has been the Sea Lions most dominant player, Kelley as been its most improved.
“This has been my best season at PLNU. The guys on this team are amazing and we have great chemistry,” said Kelley.
He attributes his improvement this year to practice and confidence.
Kelley’s stroke average has improved to 73.7 this season from 77.31 in 2007.
“I’m proud of him and the season he has had. He is deserving of making the All-Region II team,” Foster said.
“We’ve had strong teams or outstanding individual players over the years so it is hard to compare this year’s team to the previous ones,” he said. “But this team deserves the right to be considered because of the number of tournaments they have won. These guys play very good golf and are a fun group to coach. So from that standpoint they are a special team.”
It is not yet clear who or when PLNU will play in NAIA action.