ETSU one of 12 teams to compete in Jack Nicklaus Invitational

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Sept. 27, 2014) – After sweeping both the team and individual titles earlier this week at the Inverness Intercollegiate, the ETSU men’s golf team hopes to continue the same success as the Bucs return to the Buckeye state for the Jack Nicklaus Invitational. The two-day tournament gets underway Sunday morning from the Ohio State University Golf Club – Scarlet Course.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BUCS

For the third time in the last year-and-a-half, the ETSU men’s golf team won a team title as the Bucs held off then-No. 1 South Florida to capture the Inverness Intercollegiate championship by two strokes this past Tuesday.

The Blue and Gold made it a clean sweep as junior Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) won his first collegiate event after posting a 54-hole score of even-par 213 (73-70-70).

Overall, ETSU had three players finish in the top 15 as senior Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd, Wales ) tied for seventh and junior Gudmundur Kristjansson (Reykjavik, Iceland) finished 15th. Kristjansson led the team with 11 birdies for the tournament.  

The tournament win was the 47th for the Bucs under head coach Fred Warren’s watch, while Meronk became the first Buccaneer to earn medalist honors since Rhys Enoch tied for first at the 2010 NCAA Regional.

ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT

The 2014 edition of the tournament will feature a return to Ohio State's Scarlet Course, which hosted the tournament last year.

California captured the team title in 2013 as they carded an 842 throughout the two-day, 54-hole tournament.

The first and second rounds will be played on Sunday, while the final round concludes at 8 a.m. Monday. Sunday’s opening round gets underway with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m.

This is the fifth year of the tournament and it marks the second straight year ETSU has appeared in the Jack Nicklaus Invitational. The Bucs finished seventh a year ago and were led by Pugh’s ninth-place showing.

THE FIELD

Joining ETSU and Ohio State in the field is Georgia Regents (formerly Augusta State), Kansas State, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), MTSU, Northern Illinois, Pepperdine, Purdue, Troy and Tulsa.

Of the 12 teams, six are currently ranked in the top 65 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. Host Ohio State is No. 28, Purdue (45th), Troy (48th), Georgia Regents (50th), Kent State (58th) and Tulsa is 62nd.

ETSU’S LINEUP

Joining Pugh, Meronk and Kristjansson in this weekend's lineup is sophomore Mateusz Gradecki (Oborniki Śląskie, Poland) and freshman Cayman Ratliff (Kingsport, Tenn.).

Gradecki tied for 30th at the Inverness Intercollegiate, while Ratliff will be making his collegiate debut.

COVERAGE

Live scoring of this weekend’s tournament will be featured on BirdieFire.com.

Recaps following each day will be available on ETSUBucs.com.

Twitter updates can be accessed via @ETSUAthletics.

TEXTCASTER

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For more information on Buccaneer men’s golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf page.