The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

CAMERON Riley and the Florida A and M Rattlers concluded their historic season with the programme’s first appearance at the NCAA Regionals.

The five man squad, the first FAMU men’s golf team to qualify for the NCAAs, finished tied for No.13 in the field with a final score of 902 (+38). The Rattlers shot a tournament low 294 on the final day of competition at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, Florida.

Individually, Riley finished at No 71 in the field with a total of 238 (+22). He shot rounds of 76, 85 and 77.

The Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Liberty Flames, and TCU Horned Frogs advanced to next week’s NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The field also included Georgia Southern, Davidson, Indiana, Kansas, LIU, LSU, Ohio State and Southern California.

FAMU was one of 30 automatic qualifiers when they won the first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Golf Championship, another programme first in a series of milestones this season.

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. Most recently, the Rattlers had a third place finish in a nine team field at the PGA Works Collegiate Invitational prior to the NCAAs.

Riley is currently ranked at No.5 on the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour Collegiate Rankings.

The APGA Collegiate Ranking will ease the financial costs associated with playing developmental tours as well as application fees for the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.

With his ranking, Riley has an opportunity to earn APGA Tour membership, entry into all remaining APGA Tour events, travel costs associated with each APGA Tour event, exemption into the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament and Pre-Qualifying Stage unless otherwise exempt into another Stage.