The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Jason Shufflebotham Prepares For NCAA Regional Action
5/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 17, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB junior Jason Shufflebotham will open play at the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. PT (Noon CT). Shufflebotham earned an individual spot for the 54-hole Tucson Regional, hosted by the University of Arizona, which will be played May 19-21 at the par 71, 7,199-yard Omni Tucson National Resort.
"It means a lot and it's very exciting," Shufflebotham said. "(UAB head coach Alan Kaufman) told me back in January that if I keep playing well, I should have a good shot at making regionals. It's a great feeling and it's nice to see my hard work paying off.
"I don't know much about the course but I've been told it's a very tough course with fast greens," Shufflebotham continued. "That suits me fine because putting is a strength of mine. The toughest thing will be playing in the desert. I've never had to deal with desert heat, so that will be a big challenge."
The only bad thing about earning an individual spot according to Shufflebotham was that his teammates are not going to be there to support him.
"It would've been nice if the rest of the guys could make it," Shufflebotham said. "It is going to be a different preparation because when playing a regular tournament, you can't dictate how the team will play. When you're by yourself, it's a lonesome feeling, but it will be a little easier as far as how I prepare because it's all on me."
Shufflebotham, a native of Presatyn, Wales, said he was back home for a visit with his family when he received the news that he had indeed earned a spot. With the seven-hour time difference, he said he was asleep when he got the phone call from Kaufman relaying the good news.
"It was about midnight when coach called me and told me I was in," Shufflebotham said. "The house went from quiet to quite ecstatic. I was excited and my mom had a tear in her eye. She was just happy to see me doing well in golf. It was a big relief."
Shufflebotham said he went back to sleep but woke up approximately four hours later not sure if he had just dreamed about the good news or if it was real. He logged onto UABsports.com to confirm his dream had become reality.
Shufflebotham, who is the first UAB golfer since Zack Sucher in 2009 to earn an individual spot in an NCAA Regional, is the No. 3 seed among the five individual golfers in Tucson. In all, 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.
Shufflebotham was the Blazers' top individual finisher in eight of UAB's 12 tournaments this season. He led the Blazers in stroke average at 73.13 while posting eight top-25 finishes and a pair of top-10 results - a career-best second place finish at the Ocean Course Intercollegiate and a seventh-place finish at the Duck Invitational.
Fans can follow Shufflebotham live by logging onto golfstat.com or by going on the NCAA official website (ncaasports.com) and clicking on the men's golf championship page.
