Cornfield Set to Represent Upstate at NCAA Golf Regionals
5/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Golfstat Live Scoring | Tournament Notes
Practice Round Photo Gallery
Spartanburg, S.C. – When USC Upstate's Ryan Cornfield steps to the first tee to begin his round in the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA Men's Golf Championship, he will do something that no other USC Upstate golfer has done before, play in an NCAA Division I Tournament.
Cornfield, nine other individuals and 13 teams will take to the course Thursday-Saturday looking to advance to the NCAA Nationals May 29-June 3 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla. The Chapel Hill Regional is being hosted by North Carolina at the Finley Golf Course.
A week after learning he was going to participate in the NCAA Regionals, Cornfield said it has finally hit him for what he has already accomplished, but has also turned his focus to preparing for the this week's tournament.
"After the initial excitement died down, it sunk in over the last couple of days," he said. "But, I have also been preparing for the tournament and am ready for the challenge. I have played several different courses in the area to get a lot of different looks to make sure I am ready for the course and the competition. Playing the same course over and over doesn't really help you sharpen your skills."
Cornfield played six different courses in the area to help hone his skills for the regional this week, including Woodfin Ridge in Boiling Springs, Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, Thornblade in Greenville, Holly Tree in Simpsonville, Willow Creek in Greer and the Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Ga., the site of the A-Sun Championships last month.
Joining Cornfield in the Chapel Hill Regional are individuals Zach Seabolt (Winthrop), JT Poston (Western Carolina), Trey Rule (Mercer), Ben Wheeler (Coastal Carolina), Ashton Van Horne (Belmont), Andrew Dorn (Coastal Carolina), Dawson Armstrong (Lipscomb), Isaiah Logue (Liberty) and Brendon Caballero (UT Martin). The 13 teams in the regional are Florida State, Stanford, North Carolina, Kennesaw State, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida, GRU-Augusta, Charlotte, McNeese State, Penn State, Miami (Ohio) and Loyola (Md.). The top five teams and the low individual not on one of the top five teams will advance to the NCAA Nationals.
With so many top teams and individuals battling for a spot in the nationals, Cornfield will need to be at the top of his game throughout the 54-hole regional. But, he seems confident in his playing ability and outlook for the tournament.
"I always go into golf tournaments expecting to win and it is nothing different this week," he said. "I am going to go out there, stay within myself and not get too far ahead of myself and what I need to do. All of the players on the teams and the individual players in the regional are all strong. I am just going to go out there and have fun, play my game and see what happens."
Playing against a field with the nation's top teams and golfers is not something new to Cornfield. He and his Upstate teammates faced a difficult spring schedule having played more than 40 of the nation's Top 100 teams in the first four tournaments of the spring. Cornfield held his ground and claimed four Top 25 finishes, including a tie for 11th and a tie for 19th, and played himself into a berth into the Regionals. He finished the season by claiming a tie for ninth at the A-Sun Championships, which was his top individual finish in three appearances in the event. His tie for ninth helped the Spartans finish fourth for the program's best-ever finish in seven appearances in the tournament.
Cornfield turned in another standout season on the links for Upstate in 2014-15. He began the season with four Top 10 efforts, three in the Top 5, in five tournaments in the fall. He capped the fall by winning the Wendy's Kiawah Classic in November for his first career tournament victory. He shot 6-under-par for the tournament.
Cornfield has led Upstate throughout the season with a 72.4 stroke average and a .880 winning percentage. He owns a 698-95 head-to-head record against all golfers during tournament play. He has a team-best six Top 10 individual finishes on the year and three Top 5 efforts. He broke the program's lowest round record with a 65 in the Camden Collegiate Invitational in the fall and tied the program's single round record for most strokes under par when he shot a 6-under 66 in the final round of the Wendy's Kiawah Classic to help lift him to medalist honors.
While Cornfield is playing alone as an individual in the tournament, he will have the benefit of having head coach Todd Lawton alongside to guide him. He has also spoken with assistant coach Josh Gallman. Both Lawton and Gallman have experience in NCAA regional and national tournaments. Lawton coached the Spartans and Gallman, then a freshman, to a runner-up finish by one stroke at the 2007 NCAA Division II Nationals.
"I spoke to Josh and he told me to keep my head and enjoy it," said Cornfield. "He said treat it like every other golf tournament, which is what I was planning on doing all along. The expectations anyone puts on me are not as big as the expectations I put on myself. I am ready for the challenge."
Follow the Spartans on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
