KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Rocky Mountain College's men's golf team ranked No. 9 in the NAIA's 2019 Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll.
The poll is voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. Each conference provides one rater for every four schools in their league.
The Battlin' Bears finished last season ranked No. 7 in the NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Postseason Top 25 Poll.
The Battlin' Bears were the only Frontier Conference team to receive a ranking this year. Rocky swept through conference opponents last year to claim the Frontier Conference Championship. Earning an automatic berth, the team advanced to the NAIA Men's Golf National Championship for the second time in as many years. They are the only men's golf team in the history of Rocky Mountain College to have achieved this accomplishment. Rocky finished the national tournament in seventh place which also counts as the highest finish in school history for the Battlin' Bears. Both
Michael Tait and
Reece Nilsen earned third team All-American honors.
Of the five student-athletes who competed in the national tournament for Rocky, only
Mitchell Thiessen returns this year.
The Battlin' Bears ranked No. 7 in the separate Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll as announced on Friday.
2019 NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll
RANKING SCHOOL POINTS
| 1 |
Texas Wesleyan |
494 |
| 2 |
Coastal Georgia |
486 |
| 3 |
Oklahoma City |
462 |
| 4 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
452 |
| 5 |
USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
427 |
| 6 |
British Columbia |
412 |
| 7 |
University of Northwestern Ohio |
383 |
| 8 |
William Woods (Mo.) |
357 |
| 9 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
342 |
| 10 |
Taylor (Ind.) |
338 |
| 11 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
326 |
| 12 |
Dalton State (Ga.) |
325 |
| 13 |
Johnson & Wales (Fla.) |
305 |
| 14 |
Point (Ga.) |
301 |
| 15 |
Ottawa (Ariz.) (AZ) |
259 |
| 16 |
Thomas (Ga.) |
252 |
| 16 |
Missouri Valley |
252 |
| 18 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
238 |
| 19 |
Kansas Wesleyan |
199 |
| 20 |
Victoria (B.C.) |
182 |
| 21 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
172 |
| 22 |
Oregon Tech |
164 |
| 23 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
145 |
| 24 |
Truett-McConnell (Ga.) |
117 |
| 24 |
Park (Mo.) |
117 |
Bushnell Coaches Preseason Poll
RANKING SCHOOL POINTS
| 1 |
Coastal Georgia (2) |
146 |
| 2 |
Texas Wesleyan (4) |
144 |
| 3 |
Oklahoma City |
140 |
| 4 |
Keiser |
131 |
| 5 |
British Columbia |
114 |
| 6 |
South Carolina Beaufort |
111 |
| 7 |
Rocky Mountain College |
97 |
| 8 |
Dalton State |
95 |
| 9 |
Taylor |
92 |
| 10 |
William Woods |
91 |
| 11 |
Northwestern Ohio |
85 |
| 12 |
Johnson & Wales (FL) |
84 |
| 13 |
Wayland Baptist |
76 |
| 14 |
Ottawa (AZ) |
58 |
| 15 |
Point |
55 |
| 16 |
William Carey |
50 |
| 17 |
Thomas University (GA) |
44 |
| 18 |
Missouri Valley College |
38 |
| 19 |
Kansas Wesleyan |
37 |
| 20 |
Oregon Tech |
35 |
| 21 |
Bellevue University (NE) |
30 |
| 22 |
Truett-McConnell |
28 |
| 23 |
Victoria (BC) |
27 |
| 24 |
Morningside |
18 |
