Written By: Durango Herald Sports Staff

April 25, 2010.  Palm Desert, CA. - The seeds are in, and Fort Lewis College's men's golf team will participate in the Central/West Regional of the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships as the Central Region's fifth seed. The regional runs May 3-5 at The Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif.

Six of the 10 Central schools come from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Aside from the Skyhawks, UC-Colorado Springs (1-seed), Western New Mexico (2), Colorado School of Mines (6), Colorado Christian (9) and CSU-Pueblo (10) will represent the RMAC in the regional.

The top five schools advance to nationals, and the two best players from each regional not represented on one of those five teams also advance.

FLC coach Bud Andersen is thrilled to be a part of the tournament, but was slightly miffed about the seeding. He said the five-man seeding committee, of which he is a part of, had FLC seeded fourth. The NCAA, however, had other plans. “Our recommendation as a committee to the NCAA on rankings didn't equate to anything," he said.

Seeds determine what schools each team is paired with for competition. FLC, as the Central Region's fifth seed, will be paired with No. 6 Colorado Mines and the West Region's No. 6 Sonoma State. Had FLC been seeded fourth, they would have been paired with the West's four- and five-seeds, which are Cal State Monterey Bay and Western Washington, which Andersen believes would have been a stiffer group to play against and potentially would have raised his golfers' levels of play.

In the end, the course is the great equalizer, and Andersen believes it will provide a strong test.

“We have not seen the golf course, but it looks challenging," he said.

“If my guys play to their game without any quirks, we have a great shot (to advance)."   

heraldsports@durangoherald.com