SILVIS, ILL.- The Rocky Mountain College Men's Golf Team prepares to tee off Tuesday morning in the 73rd edition of the NAIA Men's Golf National Championships, hosted at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. 

The Battlin' Bears will begin play on hole 10 at 8:10 a.m. CT / 7:10 a.m. MT and will be paired with No. 5-ranked OUAZ (Ariz..) and No. 10-ranked British Columbia. On Wednesday, they will flip to the afternoon session and begin on hole one starting at 12:50 p.m. CT / 11:50 a.m. MT. 

The Rocky men enter the tournament as the No. 15-ranked team according to Clippd team rankings and the final NAIA Coaches Poll. Individually, the Battlin' Bears are led by four players in the top 200 in the Clippd individual rankings, including Kristjan Burkelca (#61), Jared Smith (#129), Jake Johnson (#140), and Aidan McDonagh (#179). 

Coming off of their seventh conference championship in the past eight seasons, the Battlin' Bears have high hopes for this year's NAIA National Championships after missing the National Championships in 2023-24, the first time they have not competed since the 2016-17 season.  

After the first two rounds, the field will be reduced to the top 15 teams (plus ties) and six individuals who have not already made the cut with their teams (plus ties).

The Battlin' Bears will enter tournament play with the following lineup on day one, who will tee off in reverse order on Tuesday morning. 

1. Kristjan Burkelca (Sophomore / Domzale, Slovenia)
2. Jake Johnson (Senior / Las Vegas, Nevada)
3. Aidan McDonagh (Junior / Melbourne, Australia)
4. Jared Smith (Junior / Las Vegas, Nevada)
5. Nathan Piers (Sophomore / Edmonton, Alberta)