NCAA Expands Substitution Rule for Men's Postseason
09 Oct 2017
by Golfweek
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Beau Hossler's injury in 2016 semifinals helped spark conversation
(Golfweek Photo)
(October 9, 2017) - Last January, the NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee announced it would permit substitutions for the match-play portion of the NCAA Division Men’s Golf Championship, beginning in 2017.
Now, the substitutions rule will be expanded.
Starting in 2018, substitutions will be allowed for both match play and stroke play at the NCAA Men’s Championship and NCAA regionals. The NCAA committee approved the rule change during its meeting last week in Indianapolis.
“The committee believes allowing substitutions for stroke play will provide each team the ability to adjust its lineup so that each will be participating with five players,” the NCAA release stated.
The committee had been discussing substitutions at length since the 2016 NCAA Championship, where Texas was forced to play without its star golfer Beau Hossler in the final match against Oregon. Hossler tore the labrum in his left shoulder in the team’s semifinal victory over USC the day before.
According to the NCAA, 57 percent of the nearly 200 coaches who responded to a recent survey indicated that substitutions should be permitted in all rounds of the postseason.
Last spring, 23 programs brought a sixth player to the NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms, though none of the eight match-play qualifiers (seven of which had an extra player in site) enacted the rule.