Photo Provided Members of the Wheeling University men’s golf team pose with their ticket to the NCAA Division II National Championships in Boulder City, Nev., on May 18-22. From left are Sean Dobson, assistant coach Mathias Nunez, Luke Wennberg, head coach Thadd Obecny, Troy Loughry, Elias Ekenes Fosback, Lodin Femoen and Zak Collins.

EDITORS NOTE: This is the first in a two-part series about local participation in the NCAA Division II National men’s golf tournament in Boulder City, Nev., from May 18-22. Today’s story is about the Wheeling University team making its-first-ever appearance. Thursday; West Liberty’s Adam Gill, a Linsly alum, is one of eight individual qualifiers.

WHEELING – The first year as head coach of the men’s golf team at Wheeling University has been a season of firsts for Thadd Obecny, an accomplished golfer himself.

The former Wheeling Park High School and Coastal Carolina University standout guided the Cardinals to their first-ever NCAA Division II Atlantic/East Regional last weekend at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pa., where they placed third. However, that was good enough to punch their ticket to the national championships next week at Boulder Creek Golf Course in Boulder City, Nev., a suburb of Las Vegas.

“This is awesome. Obviously, our goal at the beginning of the season was to make the regionals, and we did that. Then it was to make nationals, and we’ve accomplished that,” Obecny said Monday morning. “We’re going to go out there and see what happens.

“Our goal now is to make match play, “he added. “The top eight teams advance from the first three days.”

He said placing in the top three at the regional didn’t surprise him.

“Since Day 1 the guys have been working hard, and now they’re seeing the success as a result of that hard work,” Obecny said. “The key to last weekend was just staying in the moment. I didn’t want to make it too big for them because if you make it too big, then they can get nervous and not play well.

“Honestly yes. I thought all year long that we could make the top three in the regional, mainly because these guys have worked hard and stayed focused more than any team I’ve ever coached. I don’t have to tell them we have to go to the golf course, because they are probably there already.”

The Cardinals are led by graduate student Sean Dobson, who shot a three-day total of 215 at the regional.

“He’s been top 15 in the region all year long,” Obecny said of the Lancashire, England native.

Troy Loughry, another grad student from Grove City, Pa., shot, 219. Another sophomore is Zak Collins from Ballincollig, Ireland. He also shot 215.

Elias Ekenes-Fosback (214) is a freshman and Lodin Femoen a sophomore, carded a 226. Both are from Norway.

“I wouldn’t say foreign players are more advanced, but it’s becoming more prevalent in men’s golf. You definitely have to do some recruiting to get the best,” Obecny revealed.

The Cardinals will depart Thursday afternoon and play a round at a different course on Friday to get acclimated with the weather and such. Practice rounds are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

“I know absolutely nothing about the course, so we’re going to do some research and see what we can find out,” he admitted. ”

Wheeling is one of 20 teams competing for the D-II title. The others are Atlantic/East Region champion Gannon University, which defeated the University of Charleston (WV) in a playoff; Grand Valley State, Missouri-St. Louis, Central Missouri and Washburn from the Central/Midwest Region; Nova Southeastern, West Florida, Lee, Georgia Southwestern, Florida Southern, Columbus State and Wingate from the South/Southeast regional; and Western Washington, West Texas A&M, Cal State East Bay, Cal State San Marcos, Colorado Christian and Cal State San Bernardino from the Southwest/West Region.

The event gets started on Monday, May through Friday, May 22. The first three rounds will feature all 20 teams.