Thursday, May 15, 2008

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - ETSU moved up from 17th to 12th in the second of NCAA East Regional play after shooting a 1-under 283. UNF shot 4-over 288 and sits in a tie for 23rd with one round remaining at the Council Fire Golf Club.

After a difficult first round, the No. 21-ranked ETSU men’s golf team regrouped for Friday’s second round in the NCAA East Regional at Council Fire Golf Club, firing a 1-under 283 to finish 13th on the team leaderboard and just five strokes out of a coveted spot in the Top 10.

While the Top 10 teams in regional play advance to the NCAA Championships later this month, Georgia is leaving little doubt about which team will win this particular event. The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs currently hold the top spot by an impressive 19 strokes over Augusta State. Meanwhile, just 14 strokes separate second place from the 13th spot.

The Buccaneers were led individually by a 3-under-par 68 from sophomore Seamus Power (Waterford, Ireland), while senior Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland) continued his strong play, firing an even par 71 to finish with a team-best tie for 13th on the individual leaderboard. Along with Shaw, freshman Rhys Enoch (Cornwall, England) also posted a 71, while senior Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland) recovered from a tough first round to post a solid effort with a 2-over 73.

"We definitely played a little better and hung in there today," said ETSU head coach Fred Warren. "Seamus played a very good round, but we still made some mistakes and didn't capitalize on some of the Par 5s. We need to putt better, so hopefully we've saved some of that for tomorrow. There’s no question we have to play well tomorrow to catch the teams in front of us, but the guys seem up for it."

The University of North Florida golf team will need to put together one of its biggest rallies of the year Saturday to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship.

UNF improved upon its opening round score at the NCAA East Regional by five strokes, shooting a 4-over-par 293 on the par 71 layout. The Ospreys moved up one spot in the team standings and are tied for 23rd with South Carolina with one round to play. More importantly, UNF is nine strokes out of a top 10 spot in the regional, which would guarantee the team a trip to the NCAA Championship in Lafayette, Ind.

Jordan Gibb fired UNF’s first round under par of the regional, shooting a 70 on Friday in a round that included a pair of birdies and only one bogey. Gibb opened his day with nine-straight pars on the his front nine before birdying back-to-back holes on his back nine to go to 2-under-par for the day. He gave one of those strokes back with a bogey on his 16th hole before finishing the round out with a pair of pars.

J.C. Horne is UNF’s highest ranked individual at the regional. He is tied for 70th after shooting a 73 Friday. Chris Kennedy (71), Jeff Dennis (74) and Michael O’Neal (77) finished out the scoring for the Ospreys.