As sophomore Lion Kim stepped to the final tee, Michigan men’s golf coach Andrew Sapp assured him a NCAA Finals bid was essentially secured. But even though a finals appearance no longer hung in the balance, Kim still felt an adrenaline rush with each shot.

His par on the final hole of the NCAA Regionals in Austin, Texas sealed a trip to the finals for No. 45 Michigan — its first finals appearance since 1997 and second in 41 years.

The five teams with the lowest 54-hole totals at the University of Texas Golf Club for the three-day event qualified for the NCAA Finals. No. 45 Michigan topped No. 41 Lamar for the fifth and final spot by three strokes, the same margin by which it missed the finals last season.

So Kim had reason to fight his nerves — he was responsible for finishing off an accomplishment his team was so close to reaching last year.

“I’ve never been that nervous over my tee shot on 18,” Kim said. “That’s not a feeling I’ve had for a while, even until my last putt.”

The Wolverines improved their score over each of the three days, performing best when it mattered most and fired an eight-over 292 in the final round. That was the lowest final round mark of any team in the field which featured nine ranked squads, including No. 5 Stanford and No. 8 Florida.

Michigan heads to Toledo, Ohio for the NCAA Finals beginning on May 26 along with Florida, which won the event, Stanford, No. 17 Texas Tech and No. 24 Texas.

Michigan’s mental toughness and its depth were on display after the impressive final round score came despite a two-and-a-half hour rain delay about 35 minutes after play began. Its standing ranged from fourth to eighth throughout the back-nine. Although no player finished in the top-15, all five finished in the top-50.

“We just wanted to make sure we didn’t make any mental errors and that we executed the shots we wanted to play,” Sapp said. “We did a good job of doing that, and that’s why we’re advancing to nationals.”

Michigan finished each of the first two rounds in seventh place. Senior co-captain Bill Rankin shot an 80 in the first round, but kept his team in contention by improving his play by nine strokes in the second round with a tournament team-low, even-par 71.

A private team meeting after the second round paid dividends for the Wolverines, as they outplayed eight of the nation’s top 50 programs, including two top-10 teams. Three of Michigan’s final round scores were the players' lowest scores of the tournament.

“We pretty much knew that we had nothing to lose (in the final round),” Kim said. “All of us felt like that we had another good round in us, and we knew that if we just stayed patient and committed to every shot that we would take advantage of the opportunity.”

While the Regional course in Texas was an unfamiliar one, Michigan will be familiar with the Inverness Club, the site of the finals in Toledo, having played a practice round on the course two weeks ago.