Sunday, October 15, 2006

            JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (Oct. 15, 2006) - ETSU senior Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) captured his second straight individual championship in the ninth annual Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at The Ridges on Sunday. However, for the two-time, first-team All-American, it was still a bittersweet day.

Davies watched on the final hole of the tournament as Tennessee junior Philip Pettitt sank a 12-foot birdie putt to break a tie with ETSU and give the 10^th-ranked Volunteers the team championship with a score of 5-over 869. The 13^th-ranked Buccaneers finished at 870 for the day, with Davies finishing at 5-under 211 to take a three-stroke victory over Pettitt on the individual leaderboard.

Davies joins former Wake Forest star and current PGA Tour member Bill Haas as the tournament's only repeat winners.

"I can't grumble too much, but we've worked really hard for this as a team and to come up one shot short is disappointing to say the least," said Davies, who has now won a program-best eight individual championships in his ETSU career. "All I can think about right now is that we lost by a shot. I'm sure it will sink in later (about the individual title), and that's something to be proud of."

The second-place finish is the highest ever for ETSU in its host event, as the Bucs ended the 2005 version of the tournament in third place. ETSU head coach Fred Warren said his team fought hard.

"We wanted to win this tournament and had a good chance," Warren said. "Alabama just won their event for the first time in 23 years last week. We're proud of Rhys' victory.

The team title came down to the 18^th  hole, as the Vols held off a late charge from the Bucs, who made up as many as four strokes as the teams finished. Ultimately, Davies missed a birdie putt from the fringe and Pettitt rolled in his 12-foot birdie for the team victory.

            While Tennessee and ETSU made it a "Volunteer State" sweep of the top two spots on both the team and individual leaderboards, North Carolina finished third at 10-over and No. 1-ranked Alabama finished fourth at 11-over. Individually, South Carolina's George Bryan IV and Tennessee's Charles Ford finished tied for third at 1-under, while North Carolina's Robert Riesen and Alabama's Gator Todd finished tied for fifth at even-par.

            Other ETSU results of note included a tie for 13^th by junior Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland), a tie for 19^th by freshman Seamus Power (Waterford, Ireland), and a tie for 21^st by junior Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland).

            This event ends the fall schedule for the Bucs, even though both Davies and Shaw will play in the World Amateur next week in South Africa. Davies will also play individually in the Western Refining Classic in November. For more on ETSU men's golf throughout the fall and winter, visit ETSUBucs.com.