photo by: Jeff Jacobsen/Kansas Athletics Photo

Kansas University golfer Ben Welle pitches onto the green during the Ram Masters Invitational in September of 2015. Welle was the medalist of the tournament.

The Kansas University men’s golf team is headed to an NCAA regional for the first time since 2007 and 18th time in school history.

Seeded seventh, the Jayhawks will compete against 12 other schools in the Alabama Regional at Ol’ Colony Golf Complex in Tuscaloosa, for one of five spots.

The top five teams and the top individual from a team that doesn’t advance qualify for the NCAA Championship, which will be played at Eugene Country Club in Oregon from May 27 to June 1.

It will be the 16th NCAA trip for fourth-year KU coach Jamie Bermel, who once took his Colorado State team to a regional 12 times in a 13-year stretch. He also made it twice when coaching at Drake.

“It’s one of those deals where — and the kids don’t understand this — you don’t have to go to regionals and play great,” Bermel said. “Just play solid, because there will be teams that don’t play well. There will be teams that absolutely play awful.”

Bermel’s fourth Kansas team has been marked by the parity among the top five players, illustrated by their scoring averages and number of top-five and top-10 finishes.

Ben Welle has won two tournaments and has the team’s best stroke average (0.07 under par) and has four top five finishes and four top 10. Connor Peck (0.06 over, three top five, five top 10), Charlie Hillier (0.39 over, three top five, six top 10), Daniel Hudson (0.91 over, three top five, three top 10) and Chase Hanna (1.07 over, one top five, three top 10) are closely bunched.

“Right now, Ben Welle’s probably playing the worst of the five guys, and he’s been our best (throughout the season),” Bermel said.

Having won four tournaments and posted nine top-five finishes, Kansas didn’t need to sweat out getting an invitation, which was revealed on the selection show Thursday morning. The surprise came a year ago.

“I thought last year we were good enough to get in and they skipped over us, which was pretty disappointing,” Bermel said.

The 54-hole regional begins Monday, May 16. The team will fly to Alabama three days before that, play at a course with similar grass to that of Ol’ Colony two days before the regional and one day before the official practice round on Ol’ Colony.

“I don’t know a lot about it, 7,500 yards, slope’s pretty high, I’m sure it will be a good test of golf,” Bermel said of the course. “I can’t believe even par will be that bad of a score, but I haven’t seen it either so I don’t know too much about it.”

The field, in order of seeding: 1. Georgia, 2. Auburn, 3. South Carolina, 4. Alabama, 5. UNLV, 6. Kentucky, 7. Kansas, 8. Charleston, 9. Lipscomb, 10. Charleston Southern, 11. Colorado, 12. Harvard, 13. Southern Illinois.