KANSAS CITY, Mo. -The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is proud to announce a one-year extension of the NAIA Men's Golf National Championships to be hosted by St. Ambrose University (Iowa) and the Quad Cities Sports Commission. The 2011 event is scheduled to take place May 24-27 at the TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. The NAIA and these two parties began their agreement in 2009 at the TPC Deere Run when Oklahoma Christian led from start-to-finish to take home its' first NAIA Men's Golf National Championship.

"We are excited to extend our agreement with St. Ambrose and the Quad Cities through 2011," said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr. "We are fortunate to have an institution and a community that value the NAIA and character-driven intercollegiate athletics. Through their hard work and commitment, they provide a terrific environment for our student-athletes and their supporters."

The Quad Cities Sports Commission (QCSC) serves Davenport/Bettendorf, Iowa and Rock Island/Moline, Ill., and the surrounding communities and region. The TPC Deere Run is a PGA Tour facility. This course is the first PGA-recognized facility the Championships have been held at since 1999.

"The Quad Cities Sports Commission and St. Ambrose University are extremely proud to receive the extension for the NAIA Men's Golf Championships in 2011 after a mutually successful event in 2009," said Lynn Hunt, Vice President of Sales, Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau. "We are looking forward to improving on the student-athletes' experience during the 2010 Championships, and being able to build again for 2011 is very exciting. There are many partners working in the Quad Cities to make sure the NAIA wants to continue to come back and play a world class course like TPC Deere Run."

The QCSC has hosted a variety of golf championship-caliber events including the American Junior Golf Association Championships and the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Golf Championships. Also, the Quad Cities Marathon, Triathlon, the Women's NIC Softball Tournament, ASA National Girl's Championship (2004, 2006) and the Mid Continent Conference Men's Basketball Tournament have all been organized by the QCSC.

"The experience and treatment the NAIA golfer received last year playing the TPC Deere Run makes it easy to want to stay," said Kristin Gillette, NAIA Manager of Championship Sports. "We are glad to have the opportunity to extend the contract to play there in 2011." 

There are 180 NAIA schools that currently sponsor a varsity men's golf program. For information on how a team and individuals qualify, please click here.

Men's Golf was added as a championship sport in 1952 with Abilene, Texas, serving as the first site. North Texas State was the inaugural champion shooting a team total 1,123. In the history of the sport, there have been 28 national team champions.