ETSU's Shaw, Enoch earn PING All-Region honors from GCAA   

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (May 28, 2008) - On a day when the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex's Kampen Course made life miserable for the nation's best collegiate men's golf teams, the ETSU Buccaneers were unable to buck the trend.

While UCLA and USC won the battle of attrition by finishing the day tied atop of the team leaderboard at 9-over-par, the 16^th-ranked Bucs posted a team score of 25-over 313 to finish tied for 22^nd. Despite the struggles, ETSU will enter Thursday's second round just four strokes out of the all-important Top 15 cut line with two rounds left before Saturday's finals.

"All you can say is its very tough out there - one of the toughest we've ever played," said ETSU head coach Fred Warren. "If you miss the fairway by six inches you're in thick rough because there's no first cut. The guys are obviously disappointed, but we're only four strokes out (of the Top 15). We need to try and play a good solid round tomorrow and bounce back. We have a quick turnaround with an early tee time tomorrow, so we need to be ready to go tomorrow."

The Bucs' top individual performer was senior Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland), who finished at 2-over 74 and is currently tied for 10^th on the individual leaderboard. Shaw, an All-American and the Atlantic Sun Conference individual champion, finished at even-par 36 on the front nine and posted a 2-over 38 on the back. Shaw is currently five strokes back of UCLA's Kevin Chappell, who posted the day's only sub-70 round with a 3-under 69.

Other ETSU results included a tie for 23^rd by freshman Rhys Enoch (Cornwall, England), who finished at 3-over 75. No other ETSU player finished in the Top 100.

As the Bucs battled at the NCAA Championships, the Golf Coaches Association of America released its Division I PING All-Region teams, and both Shaw and Enoch earned spots on the South Region list. PING All-Region teams consist of the top 15 individuals in their region in the Individual Ranking System.  Additionally, any player ranked in the top 75 according to Golfstat or the Sagarin rankings not included in their region's top 15 are added to their All-Region team.  Members of the PING All-Region teams are eligible for PING All-America honors.

"Gareth has had a great year for us and has been our most consistent player," Warren said. "Rhys has also had a very good year for a freshman, and he was very impressive out there today playing as a freshman in the NCAAs. Both of those young men are worthy of this recognition."

The Bucs will be on the course early tomorrow with the goal of making a move into the Top 15. Fans wishing to watch live scoring from the NCAAs may do so by visiting Golfstat.com, while a full wrap up of the day's action will be available following play at ETSUBucs.com.