Friday, April 01, 2005

            JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 1, 2005) - After a three week hiatus, the East Tennessee State University men's golf team returns to action this weekend at the Cleveland Golf Classic in Augusta, Ga. First and second play begins on Saturday, April 2, followed by third round play on Sunday, April 3.

            The Buccaneers, who are currently ranked 39^th in the country by Golfstat.com and Golfweek.com, find themselves in good position for a berth in the NCAA Regionals, if they can continue to improve their consistency and make strides in their upcoming tournaments.

            "It's a pretty important stretch for us," said ETSU head coach Fred Warren. "I really think we're a better team than the ranking shows right now. I think we're making a lot of improvements and I've seen some good things from our freshman recently. I'm looking forward to our upcoming tournaments and I think our guys are, too."

            Led by Hogan Award semifinalist Rhys Davies, who has won three individual championships in his last seven collegiate tournaments and is currently ranked No. 3 nationally, the Bucs are hoping to make a move up the national rankings. Davies, who is just a sophomore, will be joined by senior Cennydd Mills (Cardiff, Wales), and freshmen Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland) and Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland) as ETSU's top players.

            Warren said finding consistency throughout the five-man team is essential to the Bucs' postseason hopes.

            "We're still looking for that fifth scorer to help us," Warren said. "And we've struggled with consistency with some of our other players. But we're still in good position for an at-large berth."

            After the Cleveland Golf Classic on April 2-3, the Bucs will compete in The Intercollegiate at Raleigh, N.C. on April 8-9, as well as the Southern Conference Championships on April 17-19 in Charlotte, N.C.

            For complete results and information on the Bucs' upcoming events, visit ETSUBucs.com for all the latest updates. ETSU fans can also keep up with live scoring from the Cleveland Golf Classic by visiting www.golfstat.com.