Mississippi State's Joe Deraney Heads to NCAA East Regional
Post Season Notes
STARKVILLE, Miss. ?€“ Mississippi State senior golfer Joe Deraney will begin NCAA East Regional competition, May 19-21, in Nashville, Tenn. The 54-hole, three-day event will be contested at the par-71, 6,864 yard Golf Club of Tennessee course.
The Statesboro, Ga. native was one of six individuals selected to compete as an individual in the East Regional. He earned his spot in postseason play with his steady play during the 2004-05 campaign. The highlight of the season for Deraney came on March 22 when he won medalists honors at the Homewood Suites Invitational in Mobile, Ala. During that event, he was the only competitor in the field to post rounds under par, leading State to the team title. Deraney has been the Bulldog's top-finisher in nine of the 11 tournaments this season. He has posted eight top-20 finishes in 11 events and four of those eight finishes have been in the top-10.
The 27-team East Regional is being hosted by the Southeastern Conference in the Music City. Deraney will be joined by five SEC teams; Georgia is the top-seed in the Regional, followed by third-seeded Florida, sixth-seeded Tennessee, eighth-seeded Alabama and 18-seeded Vanderbilt. Mississippi's Jordan Dempsey was also selected as an individual competitor. All 12 SEC school's are represented in this year's chase for the NCAA Championship crown.
He played in the first round of U.S Open qualifying in Memphis, Tenn. on Tuesday, so I think that will be good for him to play a competitive round before the regional, said MSU head coach Clay Homan. He has played a lot of golf here at MSU. He will leave here ranked in the top-three in rounds played. Joe has gotten better every day that he has been on this campus.
The Golf Club of Tennessee is a Tom Fazio-designed layout. When the club opened in 1991, Golf Digest recognized it as one of the best new private courses in America. Golf Weekly listed the course in its America's 100 Best Modern Courses list.
It's very similar to Old Waverly, except for some elevations. You can shoot low numbers if you keep it in the fairway, said Homan.
Homan participated in the 1995 East Regional in New Haven, Conn. as an individual, so he knows what Deraney will be going through this week.
The main thing that I'm going to tell him is to enjoy the opportunity and to do his best, added Homan. If he plays to his ability, he has got a chance to advance to the Championships.
Deraney will tee off on Thursday at 1:21 p.m. CT. He will be paired with Robert Dinwiddie of Tennessee State and Chris Wheeler of Tulane.
Live scoring of the NCAA East Regional will be available at www.golfstat.com.