Tuesday, April 11, 2006

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (April 11, 2006) - Finishing at even-par 216, junior Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) placed tied for seventh after final round play Tuesday in the U.S. Collegiate Championship at the Golf Club of Georgia's Lake Course. Davies' efforts helped the 10^th-ranked Bucs to an eighth-place finish in the highly competitive field.

Davies, who finished with rounds of 68-75-73, was five strokes back of Clemson's Stephen Poole, who posted a 211 (70-70-71) to take the individual championship by one stroke over Wake Forest's Webb Simpson and Georgia's Brendon Todd. In the team standings, Clemson made it a sweep of the tournament awards with a three-stroke victory over Florida. The Bucs were 35 strokes off the pace set by Clemson, as the Tigers posted a score of 864.

            Half of the teams in the field were ranked in the Top 10, and the Bucs finished ahead of No. 7 Brigham Young. Along with Davies, ETSU results included sophomore Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland) with a tie for 34^th, while fellow sophomore Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland) tied for 40^th.

The U.S. Collegiate Championship will be the final regular season tournament for the Bucs before they travel to compete in their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Championship April 17-19 in Orlando, Fla. For more on ETSU men's golf, visit ETSUBucs.com.