The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

CAMERON Riley and the Florida A and M men’s golf team achieved another first for its rapidly developing programme.

The Rattlers are set to make its NCAA Men’s Golf Championship debut after they received an automatic bid to the 81-team field of qualifiers and were placed in the Tallahassee Regional.

The Tallahassee Regional, another first in programme history this season, will be played May 17-19 at Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Rattlers are the No.13 seed in the field that also includes Georgia Southern, Davidson, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas, Liberty, LIU, LSU, Ohio State, Southern California and TCU.

Five individuals are also competing in the regional.

A total 81 teams and 45 individuals are vying for spots in the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship finals, and the fields for each of the six regional qualifying tournaments.

The top five teams from each regional will advance to the finals, which will be conducted May 28 to June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.FAMU was one of 30 automatic qualifiers when they won the first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Golf Championship in school history.

“I’ve been at FAMU for five years and I can tell you that the growth we’ve had and the respect we’ve developed in that time has been a 180 degree change. It’s been crazy. Being a part of this legacy is great,” Riley previously told the Tribune.

“Last year we won five tournaments in a row and we were one of the only HBCUs to do that and that is unheard of in college golf. Knowing that we are minorities and we are always competing with these PWIs (predominantly white institutions) and we are beating them, it’s special. I appreciate the coaches for helping me get to where I am. I feel honoured to be a part of it. We went from five guys on the team and struggling to compete to a team of 11 guys and winning just about every tournament.”

The Rattlers had their final pre NCAA Tournament tune up with a third place finish in a nine team field at the PGA Works Collegiate Invitational last week.

For the tournament, FAMU scored a 938 (315-307-316). Riley finished in 16th place.

Riley’s season was highlighted in March when won an individual title, the first of his NCAA career, and his Rattlers team took first place at the Black College Golf Coaches Association (BCGCA) Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Invitational for the second consecutive year.

This season, the Rattlers also finished sixth out of 13 teams in the Donald Ross Collegiate Classic and a third place finish in the Invitational at Savannah Harbor, hosted by William and Mary. It was the highest FAMU has ever placed in the 16-team tournament. FAMU also finished 11th at the Old Corkscrew Invitational hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University.