Saturday, April 16, 2005

            JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 16, 2005) - The East Tennessee State University men's golf team hopes to return to the top at the Southern Conference Championships, which begin with first round play Sunday at the River Run Country Club in Charlotte, N.C. Second and third round play will follow on Monday and Tuesday.

            The Buccaneers, who have won 11 SoCon Tournament titles in 18 years under the direction of head coach Fred Warren, enter the 2005 event ranked No. 44 in the country. While the team is optimistic about its chances for an at-large berth in the NCAA Regionals, Warren said his squad would like to put any doubts to rest by capturing the automatic berth which goes to the SoCon's top team.

            "This is our last tournament before the selections for regionals, so if we can continue to play well and make progress, that could go a long way toward improving our national ranking and helping our chances to get an at-large bid," Warren said. "We have some guys playing well right now, but we are still coming in as underdogs."

            While Furman enters as the defending champion, Georgia Southern is currently ranked No. 12 in the country and is considered the favorite to win the event. Meanwhile, ETSU sophomore Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) and Georgia Southern's Aron Price are expected to battle for the top individual honor. Davies is currently ranked No. 3 in the country and is a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award, which goes to the nation's top amateur player. Price is ranked No. 5 in the country.

            Along with Davies, the Bucs need strong efforts from freshmen Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland) and Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland), as well as senior Cennydd Mills (Cardiff, Wales) and sophomore Stephen Arnold (Langhorne, Pa.) if they expect to compete for a 12^th SoCon title in 19 years.

To follow the event live, visit golfstat.com for up-to-the-minute updates. Fans can also visit ETSUBucs.com following each day's play for a complete report.