The Camels finished eighth at the NCAA East Regional earlier this month, edging ninth-place Pepperdine by one stroke to secure the final berth in the NCAA championships, which begin today in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Vanderbilt was the only program credited with an official victory, but Campbell beat 16 of the 24 teams in the talented field.

"Athletes all over the country, this is their dream," Crooks said. "The fact Campbell University was able to have the opportunity to compete and win in the regionals - some people will say, 'You finished eighth; that's not a win.' That's not true. The goal when you get to regionals is to beat 16 teams. If you beat 18, you get the same prize as if you beat 16, and that's getting the chance to compete for a national championship."

A national championship isn't foreign to the 64-year-old Crooks, who was 17 when he beat Andy North to win the 1967 U.S. Junior Amateur in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Convenience assumed a role in turning an accomplished player into a coach capable of helping Campbell's women make the NCAA finals for just the second time - their other trip occurred in 1997.

In the late 1980s, Crooks spent many of his afternoons playing golf at Keith Hills in Buies Creek, and the best competition came from members of Campbell's team. He partnered with several of the Camels' male players one day and noticed something that might enable one of them to improve. With the blessing of Wendell Carr, then Campbell's golf coach and athletics director, Crooks made a suggestion to correct the flaw.

He practically served as a volunteer assistant coach for the next few seasons, until Carr gauged his interest in a promotion.

"He said, 'Why don't you just coach?' " Crooks recalled. "I didn't know much about coaching. I knew something about golf.

"I've been doing it 24 years, so it's been a good 24 for me."

Crooks began coaching the men's team in 1990, a year before he took over the women's team, and he's currently one of three Big South Conference coaches in charge of both programs. He tries to divide his time pretty evenly, and Campbell's women advanced to an NCAA regional for the 17th time in 22 seasons after winning the Big South title by 30 strokes.

With a top five of Kaylin Yost, Lisbeth Brooks, Tahnia Ravnjak, Louise Latorre and Nadine White, Campbell endured a rough stretch during the last day of the regional and closed well to post a final-round score of 298. There were nervous moments and hours as the Camels waited for other teams to finish in the afternoon, and their three-round total of 879 held up against Pepperdine (880), Baylor (881), Florida State (882) and East Tennessee State (882).

Campbell entered the regional with a national ranking of No. 49, and it defeated nine teams that were ranked higher.

Crooks' official win total still stands at 120, but the head-to-head victories are why the Camels are returning to the state where their coach enjoyed his most notable individual triumph.

"When I'm talking to them, it's not do as I did," Crooks said. "Each person has to handle their situation in the way that's most comfortable for them. What they need to know is that, the pressure or the circumstances, at the end of the day, it's still a tee shot, still a 7-iron and still a putt. They're good at doing those things, so go do them."