Barry University ranked No. 1 in the nation as college golf season reaches regionals
The Barry University men’s golf team – which is ranked No. 1 in the nation in NCAA Division II – is set to compete in the South/Southeast Super Regional May 5-7 in Valdosta, Georgia.
This is the 18th consecutive regional for Barry – all of them under coach Jimmy Stobs.
There are 19 other teams in the regional, including Nova Southeastern University, which is ranked 13th nationally.
At a minimum, three teams will qualify from regionals to advance to the finals, set for May 16-20 at TPC Michigan in Detroit.
The Barry Buccaneers have won three nationals titles (2007, 2013 and 2014). The NSU Sharks have won twice (2012 and 2015).
Barry’s AJ Ewart was named the Sunshine State Conference Male Golfer of the Year this week. It’s the fourth time a Barry athlete has won that award, joining Jorge Garcia in 2019, Adam Svensson (2014) and Daniel Stapff (2011).
Ewart, a junior from Canada, is the No. 1 golfer in the nation (Division II). On his final round in the SSC tournament, he shot an eight-under 64. He broke the tournament record for a single round, playing flawlessly with 10 pars and eight birdies.
“I’ve never had a player who hates bogeys more than AJ,” Stobs said of Ewart, who won six of his 10 tournaments this year and placed top-five nine times. “He doesn’t make the most birdies, but he makes the fewest bogeys.
“AJ doesn’t beat himself. He manages the game and knows his limitations.”
Stobs was named SSC Coach of the Year for the third time. In Barry men’s golf history, no other coach has won this honor even once.
Barry, which won eight out of 10 tournaments this year, also placed senior Felipe Alvarez on first-team All-SSC. Nichola Quintero, who beat Ewart in a four-hole playoff for the SSC title, made the second team.
Freshman Marcus Dahl and junior Santiago Chamorro round out Barry’s lineup. They are crucial to Barry, and here’s why:
The Bucs on March 15 finished a season-worst 10th out of 18 teams in a tournament in Valdosta, which ironically is the site of the regionals. After that tournament, Stobs moved Dahl and Chamorro from the bench back in the lineup, and the Bucs have won four straight events over the past month-plus.
NSU, which finished third in the conference tournament, placed sophomore Javier Calles and junior Mike Hay on the All-SSC first team. NSU also placed junior Emanuel Olofsson and freshman Josep Serra on the second team.
Serra became the sixth men’s golfer in NSU history to win SSC Freshman of the Year.
Meanwhile, Barry’s women’s golf team will play its regional starting Monday at Grande Oaks in Davie.
It’s the 10th consecutive regional bid under Barry coach Shannon Sykora. She was named SSC Coach of the Year for the second time in her career.
Barry also became the first SSC school to sweep the major awards in women’s golf since 2010 as Alice Gotbring was named Player of the Year and Nina Klug earned the award for Freshman of the Year.
Gotbring, a junior from Sweden, is ranked No. 1 in the nation (Division II), won four of her nine tournaments this year. She finished second three times.
Klug, who is from Germany, had four top-10 finishes. She also made second-team All-SSC, joined by Barry senior Eva Marie Sapin.
NSU, which won four straight national titles from 2009 to 2012, is ranked fourth in the South region, according to NCAA.com. But according to Golfstat, NSU is ranked fourth in the nation and Barry is sixth.
The NSU Sharks have two seniors -- Hanna Ahlander and Sofia Garcia Austt – who made second-team All-SSC this year. Ahlander was the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2019. Austt made her third appearance on All-SSC, including first team in 2019.
Barry won its only women’s golf national title in 2017. However, a Florida school has won the national title in 18 of the past 23 years.
If a Florida teams wins the national title this year, it will likely be Barry, NSU or second-ranked Lynn.
THIS AND THAT
▪ The Miami Hurricanes’ women’s golf team will compete in the NCAA Division I regional May 9-11 in Tallahassee. Miami is seeded seventh among the 12 schools in the field, including No. 1 South Carolina. Miami has made 11 regionals in 12 years under coach Patti Rizzo.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 1:11 PM.