University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Derek Plucienski Readies for NCAA Regional Play
5/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 18, 2011
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss redshirt junior Derek Plucienski begins the 2011 Division I NCAA Men's Golf Championship this Thursday morning at 10:10 a.m. MT (11:10 a.m. CT). Plucienski was selected as an individual in the 54-hole Colorado Regional, hosted by the University of Colorado and to be played at the par 72, 7,758-yard Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo., from May 19-21.
Plucienski becomes the second straight individual to earn a spot in the Championships, and just the fourth Golden Eagle to earn a selection to NCAA play. He joins V.J. Trolio (1998), Tim Yelverton (2002) and Paul Apyan (2010) as the only Golden Eagles to earn a selection to NCAA play.
The Slidell, La. native is the No. 4 seeded among 10 individuals in the Regional. Overall, six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted during the weekend. Three of the regionals feature 13 teams and 10 individual competitors, while the other three feature 14 teams and five individuals.
The low five teams from each regional and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the finals, which will be conducted May 31-June 5 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla.
Plucienski was named Second Team All-Conference USA. He was the only golfer to participate in all 11 events this year. His stroke average of 72.81 over 32 rounds is the third lowest in Southern Miss history.
The Slidell, La. native had two top five finishes, five top ten finishes and nine top 20 finishes, which is tied for fourth in school history, one behind the record. He also has 15 rounds of par or better on the year. He earned his first career victory at the 2010 UTA/Waterchase Intercollegiate, which was the first Southern Miss individual victory since Joel Myrick won the 2006 Adam's Cup of Newport.
Plucienski began the season in record-breaking fashion, recording two of the three lowest scores in Southern Miss history at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate, including a school record 63 in the first round. At that tournament, he also set the school record for lowest 54-hole score with a 201.
A week later, Plucienski earned his first career victory at the UTA/Waterchase Intercollegiate, recording a 65 in the second round and setting a Southern Miss 36-hole record with a 133.
Most recently, the redshirt junior earned a tie for seventh-place at the Conference USA Championships.
Plucienski's career stroke average of 74.00 is tied for the third lowest in school history.
Action from all the regionals can be followed live at www.golfstat.com.
