INDIANAPOLIS -- The San Diego State men's golf team will travel to South Carolina for the 2023 Salem Regional, May 15-17, as announced Wednesday by the NCAA selection committee. The Aztecs earned the No. 4 seed for their 23rd regional appearance in the last 24 tournaments and 26th overall since the regional format was launched in 1989.
SDSU earned an automatic bid into the regional after winning the Mountain West Championship last weekend in Tucson, Arizona, shattering the tournament record with a 60-under-par 804 to win by a championship-record 25 strokes over runner-up New Mexico. It was San Diego State's second straight league title and third tournament win of the season. Salem, South Carolina (Clemson) is one of six regional tournaments that will also be played concurrently in Auburn, Alabama (Auburn), East Lansing, Michigan (Michigan State), Norman, Oklahoma (Oklahoma), Morgan Hill, California (San Jose State) and Las Vegas (UNLV).
The top-five squads and lowest individual not on those teams from the Salem Regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, slated for May 26-31, at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Clemson, the No. 9 seed in the regional, will play host to the Salem Regional, which features 14 teams and five individuals. The teams and individuals will play 18 holes (54 total) on each of the three days at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls, following a practice round on Sunday, May 14. A live hole-by-hole scoring link will be available for all three rounds courtesy of Golfstat on GoAztecs.com.
The 14 teams in the Salem Regional in order of seed (with GolfStat ranking in parenthesis) are North Carolina (2), Georgia Tech (11), Texas A&M (14), San Diego State (23), Georgia Southern (26), Arkansas (35), Purdue (38), New Mexico (47), Clemson (54), Furman (58), Middle Tennessee (64), Northern Illinois (127), Long Island (186) and Longwood (201).
The Aztecs have qualified for nationals 24 times in school history, including eight occasions (1999, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2021) since the regional format was initiated. SDSU claimed its first-ever NCAA regional crown in 2011, after finishing in the top spot by seven strokes at the No. 2 seed in Tucson, Arizona, followed by runner-up performances at Stanford, California, and New Haven, Connecticut, respectively, in 2012 and 2015. At the 2016 Albuquerque Regional, San Diego State gained the fifth and final spot to the NCAA championship series after defeating Texas A&M on the first hole of a dramatic sudden-death playoff. The Aztecs finished third at the 2021 Kington Springs Regional in Tennessee at 5-under 847 before tying for 25th at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Aztecs Headed to South Carolina for NCAA Regionals
