Last season was the first time in four years that the Northwestern men’s golf team failed to advance past the regional round of the NCAA tournament.

After cruising to a third straight Big Ten title in 2001, the Wildcats were unable to continue their dominance and missed qualifying for nationals by four strokes.

Today, the 20th-seeded Cats head south to Little Rock, Ark., to begin play in this year’s NCAA Central regional tournament. The top 10 teams will advance to nationals.

NU barely qualified for regionals after sitting on the bubble for an NCAA bid throughout the season. Strong play by the Cats in the final weeks of the regular season vaulted them past Ohio State in the District IV rankings to secure a bid.

“We definitely continue to get better, NU coach Pat Goss said. “We’ve been advancing in our continued improvement to the point that we’re ready (for regionals).”

Goss has had the team concentrating on its short game, mostly putting and chipping, in practices.

The Cats are heading to Little Rock after a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten championships, which ended their three-year run as conference champions.

Hampered by inconsistency, the Cats will need to bring it all together to advance to nationals.

“Everybody’s gotta be solid,” Goss said.

Goss said he will be expecting senior Chris Thayer to put in a good performance in his third regional appearance.

Scott Harrington has emerged in the last three weeks of the season as NU’s top golfer. He had second-place finishes at the Kepler Intercollegiate and the Big Ten championships.

“Scott was working hard all season, but it just wasn’t showing in his scores,” Goss said. “I told him he had to be patient and it would come.”

Tom Johnson and Bjorn Widerstedt, who had generally recorded NU’s lowest rounds before Harrington’s surge, also will need to put in strong performances.

Casey Strunk, who has been alternating with T.C. Ford all season, will round out the NU squad.

“Casey needs to play at a level where his score counts for something,” Goss said.

Last year, Harrington placed 30th, Johnson placed 40th and Thayer finished 90th.

Neither Strunk nor Widerstedt competed at last year’s regionals.

After practice rounds Wednesday, Goss said the players are very comfortable with the Pleasant Valley Country Club course. The fast greens are suited to the Cats’ style of play, he said.

Arkansas is also a new place for the Cats.

“I don’t think any of our players have even been to Arkansas, let alone played golf there,” Goss said.

As for competition, the Cats will be facing some of the teams they played against earlier in the season. Because of their early season schedule, the Cats face more top-ranked opponents, which Goss said prepares them for tough events like regionals.

NU beat top-seeded Texas Christian earlier this season at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate.

Behind Texas Christian, the top seeds are North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma.

“We stack up well if we play well,” Goss said. “The best team should advance.”