UConn Athletic Communications / May 5, 2021

HAMPDEN, Mass. – The UConn men's golf team will be heading south to continue its impressive 2021 spring season.

The Huskies, who last week captured the BIG EAST Championship, learned Wednesday that they will journey to Kingston Springs, Tenn., to compete in the NCAA Regional on May 17-19 at the Golf Club of Tennessee. UConn, competing as a team in the NCAAs for the first time since 1999, will be the No. 12 seed in the regional, which includes 13 teams and 10 individuals.

"It's an exciting time, but we have a lot more golf to play," said 14-year coach Dave Pezzino, who watched the NCAA Selection Show with his team at GreatHorse, the site of the annual UConn Invitational. "I think it shows that this program is trending in the right direction overall and what hard work can accomplish. Our guys have been practicing upstairs, and quarantining, and sacrificing a lot of the student-athlete experience in order to continue to be able to play. The conference championship was a major goal and for us to be able to pull that off was a big deal."

The Huskies, who have notched six Top Five finishes in a shortened nine-event spring schedule, will take senior Rodrigo Sanchez, junior Jared Nelson, and the freshmen trio of Caleb Manuel, Jimmy Paradise and Tommy Dallahan to Tennessee for the 54-hole regional.

Manuel (Topsham, Me.) is UConn's leading scorer at 72.7 per round with three Top 10 finishes, including fourth at the BIG EAST Championship, where he shot a spectacular second-round 66. Nelson (Rutland, Vt.) is not far behind at 73.4 with three Top 10s, including a co-championship at the Bash at the Beach in March.

Paradise (Tampa, Fla.), who had an impressive final-round 68 to finish third at the BIG EAST, is averaging 74.3, while Dallahan (Simsbury, Conn.) is at 75.4 and Sanchez (Santo Domingo, D.R.) is at 75.7.

The Tennessee regional is headed by No. 1-seeded Clemson, followed by 2. North Carolina State, 3. Vanderbilt, 4. Arkansas, 5. San Diego State, 6. Virginia, 7. Charlotte, 8. Kent State, 9. UTSA, 10. Houston, 11. Loyola Maryland, 12. UConn, 13. Iona.

It is one of six regionals set throughout the country. The top five finishing teams in each regional, as well as the top individual player not on a top five team, will advance to the NCAA Championship on May 28-June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

To be listed among the top teams in the country is a big step for UConn.

"It is a significant moment for our program," Pezzino said. "It just shows the quality of the student-athletes we were able to recruit. Even when we had some challenging times, these kids stuck together, they came to play for UConn and bonded as a team. They became such a tight unit, that even when the world around them was imploding, they decided to put their university and their teammates ahead of their own personal goals. And what they have accomplished is just awesome."

The Golf Club of Tennessee is not a course that is familiar to the UConn coach.

"I understand that it's ranked the No. 2 course in Tennessee, which says a lot because Tennessee is loaded with high-end, elite courses," Pezzino said. "But it really didn't matter – they could have sent us to Guam, we really didn't care. Just tell us how many spots are available and we're going to fight like heck to be one of those teams going to Scottsdale."