TOLEDO, OH - The nation’s top amateur golfers will be coming to Northwest Ohio in less than two months as the University of Toledo and the Inverness Club will host the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships on May 26-30. It will be the second time the Rockets have served as the tournament host with the previous occurrence coming 65 years ago in 1944.

A par-71, 7,255-yard course, the Inverness Club was founded in 1903 and has hosted four U.S. Opens, one U.S. Amateur, one U.S. Senior Open and two PGA Championships. The Rockets’ men’s golf program has also hosted the Inverness Intercollegiate there since 2000.

One special memory for this year’s participants will be the appearance of legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus at a tournament dinner in Savage Arena following play on Thursday, May 28. Tickets for the event are only available to the general public by purchasing a table of 10 for $1,500. To purchase a table, contact Judd Silverman at (419) 531-3277.

Nicklaus, a tremendous supporter of the collegiate and amateur game, was the NCAA and Big Ten Champion in 1961 at The Ohio State University, before embarking on a professional career that was highlighted by 118 victories worldwide and a record 18 professional major championships.

"This week will be a special one in the lives of these young men, not only because of the level of competition they will face but also because of a venue that has such a rich and storied history attached to it," Nicklaus said. "It’s ironic that at age 17, Inverness was the site of my first U.S. Open and first major championship. I can only hope these young men can walk away with the wealth of special memories I did that week.

"I have a special fondness and respect for collegiate golf, and my experience while at Ohio State is something I still cherish to this day. I look forward to sharing an evening with these young men."

The Golf Coaches Association of America’s Player of the Year Awards in Divisions I, II and III, as well as NAIA, are named after Nicklaus. Each June, he welcomes the four Nicklaus Award recipients during the final round of The Memorial Tournament, the prestigious PGA Tour event Nicklaus founded and hosts annually in Dublin, Ohio.

"Jack Nicklaus is considered to be the greatest golfer of all time and we are very grateful he will be the guest speaker at our dinner," University of Toledo Athletic Director Mike O’Brien said. "I think this event will be something the student-athletes will remember for the rest of their lives."

The 2009 NCAA Championships will feature a new twist with the team champion determined via match play, the first time the winner hasn’t been awarded by total strokes since 1965. The top eight teams after 54 holes of stroke play will advance to match play with the quarterfinals and semifinals being held on Friday, May 29 and the championship match set for Saturday, May 30.

During the match-play portion of the championships, each match will be worth one point with all five players participating. The first team to win three points within the team match will advance or, in the case of the championship match, be declared the national champion.

Teams will qualify for the NCAA Championships by participating at six regional sites across the nation in California, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas. The top five schools and one individual from each regional will then head to Toledo.

The current top 10 schools in the country according to golfstat.com are Georgia, Oklahoma State, Southern Cal, Indiana, Clemson, Washington, Stanford, Florida, South Carolina and Alabama. Some of the top individuals in the field are expected to be two former players who were ranked as the No. 1 amateurs in the world, Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler and Southern Cal’s Jamie Lovemark. Lovemark also captured the NCAA individual title in 2007. Florida State’s Drew Kittleson also will likely make his presence felt after a runner-up finish at the 2008 U.S. Amateur and is slated to compete in this year’s Masters Tournament and U.S. Open.