Thursday, November 10, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 10, 2005) - A fall season that included two Top 4 finishes despite an extremely demanding schedule has landed the ETSU men's golf team at the top of the national rankings once again heading into the spring.

The Buccaneers, who finished their fall slate last weekend at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, are currently ranked 19^th in both the Golfweek/Sagarin and GolfStat.com rankings.

"We're in the top 25 in virtually every poll, so we're headed in the right direction," ETSU head coach Fred Warren told the Johnson City Press earlier this week. "We have quite a bit of talent. In fact, this is maybe our most talented team. We just have some young players who need experience and seasoning."

As a team, the Bucs have played well, but junior Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) enjoyed a particularly strong start to the 2005-06 campaign. Davies won two tournaments and finished in the top 3 in a third, earning a No. 5 individual standing this week in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

While the team's fall season is over, Davies will be competing as an individual against arguably the toughest field in collegiate golf at the 31^st Annual Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic Nov. 20-22 in El Paso, Texas. The event, hosted by the Sun Bowl, has featured greats such as David Duval, Tiger Woods and Davis Love III.

The Bucs will return to team play Feb. 24-26 at the Puerto Rico Classic in San Juan, P.R., and fans can keep up with ETSU men's golf team throughout the winter months by visiting ETSUBucs.com.