The College of Charleston’s men’s golf team will be playing on a course more than 800 miles from its Lowcountry base next week when the Cougars take part in the West Lafayette, Ind., NCAA Regional.
Despite the distance, the Cougars might have a little home-course advantage on their side with head coach Mitch Krywulycz.
Krywulycz, who was named the Cougars’ head coach in 2018, spent two years at Purdue as an assistant coach.
Krywulycz said he played the demanding Pete Dye-designed Kampen-Cosler Golf Course extensively while he was an assistant coach with the Boilermakers.
“I know the golf course fairly well,” said Krywulycz, who has guided the Cougars to three NCAA Regional appearances in the last four years. “I’ve played the course a lot, nearly every day for two years, when I was up in Purdue, but I’m not sure that gives us an advantage or not. We planned a little bit for this site, it was a site we thought we might go to.
“It’s a pretty big difference, golf course-wise, then what we are used to playing here locally. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve been playing Pete Dye courses lately, so we will be prepared.”
The three-day event, which begins May 15, will consist of 54 holes at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex at Purdue. The top five teams, as well as the low individual finisher not on an advancing team, will advance to the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., from May 24-29.
A total of 81 teams and 45 individuals will play across six regional hosts — LSU, North Carolina, Purdue, San Diego, Stanford, and Texas. Three regional sites will have 13 teams and 10 individuals, and three will have 14 teams and five individuals.
The 7,400-yard, par-72 Kampen-Cosler course will present plenty of challenges for the Cougars.
“The weather this time of year can be pretty windy and wild,” Krywulycz said. “There could be tornadoes — they had some last week.
“For people in Charleston, you are probably taking the Ocean Course (Kiawah Island) and the wind at Bull’s Bay (Awendaw) and mixing that up with a Parkland-style golf course. It’s a really big golf course with a lot of rough. It’ll be a slog, so I don’t think scores will be that low.”
The Cougars, who are the No. 9 seed at the regional in the 13-team field, are coming off a record-setting performance at the Coastal Athletic Association Championship where they claimed their seventh league title. Charleston is ranked No. 52 in the nation in the final Clippd rankings entering the regional round.
The Cougars entered the final day of the CAA Championship four strokes behind Elon. Charleston surged ahead, winning by seven strokes over the Phoenix.
“I think we’ve got a ton of momentum heading into the regional,” said Zach Reuland, who tied Cougars teammate Kieron van Wyk for individual medalist honors at the CAA Championships. “Winning always gives you confidence, momentum and the ability to believe in yourself and to go out there and do it again.”
The CAA title was the second title for both Reuland and van Wyk. Reuland took the title in 2021, while van Wyk last won in 2022. They tied the tournament record set by their own previous winning performances at Dataw Island in Beaufort.
The duo finished at 13 under to share the title. Reuland played a six-birdie final round with an eagle. He led the field with 18 birdies over three rounds. Van Wyk had a bogey-free round with four birdies and posted just two bogeys during the entire tournament.
Charleston's last regional appearance was in 2022 at the Palm Beach Regional in Florida. C of C was the ninth seed in 2022 when the Cougars advanced to the NCAA National Championship in Phoenix. This will mark the 10th NCAA Regional appearance in program history and the seventh since 2014.
“I think the site suits our game,” van Wyk said. “(Krywulycz) has played up there and coached up there, so that should give us a little advantage.”
West Lafayette Regional Teams (seed number)
No. 1 Vanderbilt
No. 2 Arizona
No. 3 Florida
No. 4 New Mexico
No. 5 Purdue
No. 6 San Diego State
No. 7 Mississippi State
No. 8 Indiana
No. 9 College of Charleston
No. 10 Stetson
No. 11 Colorado State
No. 12 Southern Illinois
No. 13 Tennessee Tech
