Monday, January 28, 2008

 TUCSON, Ariz. (Jan. 28, 2008) - ETSU freshman Simon Doherty (Belfast, Northern Ireland) fired a 6-under-par 65 to take the first round lead Monday in the Ping-Arizona Intercollegiate at the Arizona National Golf Club. Second round play was suspended due to darkness, and plans are to complete the tournaments third and final round on Tuesday.

While Doherty fell off the pace in the second round, teammates such as sophomore Seamus Power (Waterford, Ireland) and senior Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland) picked up the effort and currently stand tied for seventh and 13^th, respectively, heading into Tuesday final day of play. As a team the Bucs are fourth, currently 13 strokes off the pace set by No. 25 Tennessee, which is 15-under as a squad.

"We were very encouraged by Simon's play in the first round," said ETSU head coach Fred Warren. "For our first tournament since the break, we're happy to be in contention and playing well."

Power and Shaw are among those chasing UCLA's Kevin Chappell, who is the nation's No. 8-ranked player and currently stands at 7-under for the tournament. Along with Power and Shaw, other ETSU results include a tie for 16^th by Doherty, a tie for 46^th by freshman Rhys Enoch (Cornwall, England) and a tie for 55^th by senior Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland).

Fans wishing to keep up with the Bucs' efforts Tuesday in final round action at the PING-Arizona Intercollegiate can visit Golfstat.com on the Internet to access live scoring. As always, ETSUBucs.com will have a complete wrap up following the day's play.