Thursday, June 03, 2010

OOLTEWAH (June 3, 2010) - With an eagle on his 53^rd hole of the NCAA Championships, ETSU junior Rhys Enoch (Cornwall, England) ended his run at nationals in impressive fashion, posting a 2-under-par 70 in Thursday's third round and wrapping up the event tied for 34th at The Honors Course.

            Enoch, who is currently ranked 52^nd nationally, began the day 53^rd on the leaderboard and moved up 19 spots. He ended the tournament at even-par 216 (72-74-70), finishing 34^th out of 154 players to conclude a successful season.

            "It felt good to put a good round together, but I'm really not happy at all - it could have been better," said Enoch, who earned a bid to the tournament by winning the NCAA East Regional back in May. "I was able to be aggressive of the 17^th and it turned out well."

            Prior to his eagle on the Par 5 17^th, Enoch had carded three birdies and three bogeys on the day to stand at even par. However, on the 17^th his drive came to rest just left of the fairway in the rough, leaving him 270 yards to the hole. He hit a low, stinging 3-wood that split two trees and drew into the green, landing just short and rolling to within 15 feet of the cup.

Enoch's downhill, left-to-right putt swung perfectly to the hole for his eagle.

            ETSU head coach Fred Warren said he was pleased with Enoch's finish, as well as his play this week.

            "He finished up with a really good round," Warren said. "He was playing with Georgia's Russell Henley, who is the nation's No. 1 player, and he played well. I've really seen a development in Rhys' game, especially the last few months. He had a chance to win at conference, he played great at regionals, and he put together a solid tournament here.

            "I've seen a lot of good things from him. He knows he could have done better this week, but I think he's excited about continuing to play this summer, getting better and coming back for a great senior season."

            Enoch finished 10 strokes back of first place Scott Langley of Illinois, who bested San Diego's Alex Ching by two strokes. Langley entered the event ranked 23^rd nationally, while Ching was unranked.

            For more on Enoch and the rest of the Buccaneers during the summer offseason, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's golf link.