Wednesday, April 11, 2007

                ALPHARETTA, Ga. (April 11, 2007) - The nation's No. 3-ranked player Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) posted a final round of even par 72 to power the No. 13-ranked ETSU men's golf team to a respectable seventh place finish in an extremely competitive 15-team field at the U.S. Collegiate Championship Wednesday.

            Battling difficult course conditions at the Golf Club of Georgia's Lakeside Course, Davies and the Bucs posted a final round score of 294 to finish 15 strokes back of tournament champion and No. 2-ranked Georgia. Meanwhile, Davies finished six strokes back of Wake Forest's Webb Simpson, who won the tournament with a score of 1-under 215, which is an indication of just how tough the course played for everyone in the tournament.

            "We played pretty well today and to finish in the top half of this field is a good showing," said ETSU head coach Fred Warren. "Rhys could have really had a good round today, but couple things didn't go his way and he still finished even par. I think we're getting closer to where we need to be and this was a good experience for our guys despite some tough weather and course conditions."

Along with Davies, other ETSU results of note included a tie for 16^th by both freshman Seamus Power (Waterford, Ireland) and junior Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland). Sophomore Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh, Scotland) and junior Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland) finished tied for 62^nd and 68^th, respectively.

            The Bucs will next return to action April 16-18 at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships. For more on the ETSU men's golf team as they prepare for postseason play, visiting ETSUBucs.com and click on the ETSU men's golf link.