William Woods Makes the Cut
(SILVIS, Ill., May 20)--The William Woods University men's golf team is tied for 17th after day three of the 2010 NAIA National Championships.  The Owls have shot rounds of 300, 311 and 313 (+72).  William Woods is tied with Johnson and Wales College.  Oklahoma City University and Malone University are tied for the lead after three rounds with a 896 (+44).  29 teams comprise the field.  This is the third consecutive trip to the NAIA national championships for William Woods. 

The tournament is taking place at the TPC at Deere Run Golf Club in Silvis, Ill.   The TPC at Deere Run, which opened in 2000, is the annual site of the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic.  

Sophomore J.D. Nash (Dixon, Mo.) leads the Owls after three rounds.  Nash is tied for 4th individually.  He has shot three consecutive rounds of 73 for a three-day total of 219 (+6).  Nash is 10 strokes behind third-round leader Justin Lower (Malone College).  Lower is -4 after three rounds.  

Sophomore Nick Wilson (Rocheport, Mo.) is five shots back of Nash.  Wilson has shot rounds of 71, 77 and 76.  He is +11 and tied for 19th heading into the final round.

WWU Individual Leaders

Sophomore J.D. Nash (Dixon, Mo.) - T-4th - 219 (+6)

Sophomore Nick Wilson (Rocheport, Mo.) - T-19th - 224 (+11)

Junior Austin Waibel (Boonville, Mo.) - T-104th - 239 (+26)

Senior Kyle Kovar (Columbia, Mo.) - T-121st - 242 (+29)

Freshman Chris Rienert (Parkville, Mo.) - T-131st - 255 (+42)

The final round begins Friday at 7 a.m. The top 17 teams (including ties) advance to the final round of the 2010 NAIA National Championships.

The Owls received an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the American Midwest Conference/Dakota Athletic Conference/Unaffiliated Grouping championship on May 1.

In the nine-team field, William Woods shot a 601 (+25) and defeated second place Minot State University by 28 strokes. The Owls took two of the top four spots in the AMC/DAC/UG tournament. Sophomore J.D. Nash (Dixon, Mo.) won top individual honors with a 36-hole score of 144. Junior Austin Waibel (Boonville, Mo.) grabbed fourth place at 152. Senior Kyle Kovar (Columbia, Mo.) was right behind in sixth place with a score of 153.

The 156-player championships field is comprised of 21 automatic qualifying teams from NAIA affiliated conferences and unaffiliated groupings and seven at-large selections, which are determined using the final Top 25 rating released on April 30. Saint Ambrose (Iowa) qualifies as the host institution. Nine individuals earned a spot in the event through automatic qualification and two were at-large selections. Oklahoma Baptist's Chase Lindsey returns to the event as a returning All-Tournament Team member from 2009.

William Woods did not make the final cut at last season's championships. The Owls finished tied for 27th after the first three rounds. Sophomore Nick Wilson (Rocheport, Mo.) was the highest finisher for the Owls. Wilson was tied for 103rd individually after three rounds. Wilson shot rounds of 90, 79 and 70.

In its first appearance at the national championships in 2008, the Owls also failed to make the final cut. The Owls finished 25th after three rounds. Junior Austin Waibel (Boonville, Mo.) and senior Kyle Kovar (Columbia, Mo.) made their first appearance at the national tournament in 2008.

You can follow the scoring live at the NAIA Men's Golf web page. The site will also list tee times, individual and team results and a daily recap of each round.