FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State juniors Matthew Manganello and Matthew Sutherland received individual bids to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Committee on Wednesday. The two Bulldogs will head to the Morgan Hill Regional which will be contested May 15-17 at The Institute Golf Club.
They represent the eighth and ninth individual regional qualifiers in program history. They join Grant Doverspike and Bhavik Patel (2009) as the only other Bulldog teammates to compete together at a regional as individual qualifiers.
"Both players have had record setting years for the Bulldogs," Fresno State head coach Chad Spencer said. "It's an exciting time for our team and for Manganello and Sutherland to get some great experience in the postseason. Looking forward to them playing well!"
In 10 tournaments this season, the two have totaled 10 Top-10 results with five apiece.
Manganello ranks No. 84 according to GolfStat and holds a 69.93 scoring average. This year, the Las Vegas product became the first Bulldog to earn two medalist honors in the same season since Nick Watney in 2002 with wins at the Saint Mary's Invitational and the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. The junior also twice posted a career-low 203, most recently coming at the Mountain West Championship.
Ranked No. 110, Sutherland holds a 70.24 scoring average on the year. The Sacramento native recorded a team-best four Top-5 finishes. His highest came at the El Macero Classic, placing third last month. Sutherland opened the season with a career-low 202 at the Nick Watney Invitational, the third-lowest 54-hole score for the Bulldogs in the last 30 years.
Manganello and Sutherland are the top two ranked individuals of the 10 in their regional.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT
Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 15-17. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams. The top five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals.
Team and individual medalist titles will be decided May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Arizona State and The Thunderbirds are the hosts for the 2023 championships.
MORGAN HILL REGIONAL
(Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution)
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Pepperdine
2. Florida State
3. Mississippi State
4. Arizona
5. Louisville
6. Baylor
7. Missouri
8. Brigham Young (West Coast Conference)
9. NC State
10. California
11. Charlotte (Conference USA)
12. Grand Canyon (Western Athletic Conference)
13. Northern Colorado (Big Sky Conference)
Individuals (seeded in the following order):
1. Matthew Manganello, Fresno State
2. Matthew Sutherland, Fresno State
3. Riley Lewis, Loyola Marymount University
4. Javier Barcos, Utah
5. Mahanth Chirravuri, Southern California
6. Julien Paltrinieri, Santa Clara
7. Caleb Shetler, San Jose State
8. Pono Yanagi, Washington State
9. Jackson Rivera, Southern California
10. Casey Leebrick, Sacramento State