MORROW, Ga. – Having earned their first berth as a team since the 2013-14 season, Clayton State men's golf will take the course tomorrow as they compete in the 2019 NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional from May 9-11 in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.
 
The Lakers will be one of 80 teams nationally that has earned that right but just 20 that will look to be among the top seven at the South/Southeast Regional hosted by Rollins and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission at the Mission Inn Resort and Club.
 
Having made the field as the sixth ranked team in the Southeast Region following a tremendous season, they will face the toughest field in the country in order to continue that campaign at the national championships.
 
The region will feature No. 1 Barry, No. 2 and defending national champion Lynn, No. 3 West Florida, T-No. 5 Nova Southeastern, No. 7 Florida Tech, No. 8 Florida Southern, No. 10 Lincoln Memorial, No. 11 Young Harris, No. 14 Limestone, No. 15 Carson-Newman, No. 17 Saint Leo, No. 22 Rollins and T-No. 25 Columbus State.
 
That tally comes in at 13 nationally ranked programs with seven of those coming in the Top-10. Additionally, the remainder of the field consists of USC Aiken, Flagler, Queens and Valdosta State, each of which are receiving votes in the Bushnell Golfweek NCAA Division II Top-25 Coaches Poll, as well as automatic qualifiers Albany State (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) and North Greenville (Conference Carolinas).
 
The Lakers make their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history having qualified as a team in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2014. Two of those resulted in trips to the national championships during the 1999 (7^th) and 2008 (10^th) campaigns. Additionally, when they haven't made it as a team they have sent an individual to the NCAAs on six different occasions, including two in the past three years.
 
In order to make a third trip to the national championships, Clayton State will need to finish among the top seven teams. Accomplishing that feat would not only punch their ticket to the championships, but in facing the South/Southeast Region, would also position them as legitimate national title contender. Hosted by the Mountain East Conference, those seven teams will advance to the finals at The Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels, West Virginia from May 20-24.
 
Representing the 2019 edition of the Lakers in their bid to make history will be senior Andres Caballero (Mexico City, Mexico), junior Nick Woof (Leighton Buzzard, England), sophomore Raul Carbonell (Panama City, Panama) and freshmen Javier Gonzalez (San Jose del Cabo, Mexico) and Augusto Oliva (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
 
Full coverage of their efforts at the regional will be available on www.ClaytonStateSports.com, including live scoring throughout and release and results coverage each day.