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As announced by the NCAA on Friday (April 26) night, Ashland University senior Austin Kondratick has qualified for the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional tournament as an individual.
Kondratick will compete in the NCAA postseason for the first time May 9-11 at Hot Springs Country Club, Arlington Course, in Hot Springs, Ark. Tee times will be 8:30 a.m. Eastern all three days. He will be a part of a 54-hole regional tournament which features 10 teams and four individuals not with a team.
"It's truly an honor being selected to play in super regionals, and I am beyond excited to compete for a spot in the NCAA tournament," Kondratick said. "I am so proud of this team and the way we fought at the end of the season. My teammates, my parents and coaches have pushed me so hard to be where I am today, and I am very thankful for everything they have done for me.
"Finally getting to the place where I wanted to be in my last year is an amazing feeling, and I'm just going to go have some fun, and leave everything I have out there and see what happens."
Said Ashland head coach Dennis North, "I'm so proud of Austin. In my first year of coaching, I couldn't ask for a better team leader. He's the hardest worker on our team. He's also the most competitive golfer I've ever seen. He plays with no fear. As an individual, a competitor and a teammate, he has set the foundation for our program going forward.
"This accomplishment isn't achieved by doing the minimum. You achieve these accomplishments by outworking your competition. We use a saying – show me, don't tell me. This quote couldn't describe him any better."
Twenty teams and eight individuals will qualify for the 2019 NCAA Division II Championships, May 21-25 at The Resort at Glade Springs, Cobb Course, in Daniels, W.Va.
Kondratick is the leader of what ended up being one of the top teams in the Midwest Region in the month of April. His 2018-19 season average is 73.04 over 23 rounds, not including his carding of back-to-back 71s in the medal match play semifinals and finals of the 2019 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Sunday (April 21).
Including Sunday's play, Kondratick enters regionals with an average of 71.33 over his last nine rounds, including eight rounds of 71 or better.
Ashland's men's golf team last played in the D-II postseason in the spring of 2014. The last Eagle to compete at regionals as an individual was Brendan Jenkins in the spring of 2013.
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