Date Posted: 5/31/2007

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Bolstered by a string of birdies early in Thursday’s second round, the 14th-ranked ETSU men’s golf team climbed into a tie for the lead and ultimately finished the day in contention at the NCAA Championships with a fourth-place standing heading into Friday’s third round at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club.

The Buccaneers were led by junior Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland) and senior Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales), both of whom posted four of ETSU’s 11 total birdies on the front nine during the second round. Shaw ultimately finished at 2-under 68 and is currently tied for eighth on the individual leaderboard at 3-under for the tournament. Meanwhile, Davies is tied for 12th at 2-under after posting his second straight 69 of the event.

Individually, Shaw and Davies are attempting to chase down Bronson LaCassie of Minnesota, who currently leads the event at 8-under. As a team, ETSU stands at even par for the championships, seven strokes back of leader Stanford. Most importantly, the Bucs are 10 strokes out of 15th place, which means they are in relatively good shape to make the cut and participate as one of the final 15 teams in Saturday’s fourth round.

“We got off to a good start, but we gave away some shots in places where I didn’t think we would,” said ETSU head coach Fred Warren, whose team shot 4-under on the front nine. “But overall it was a good result.”

Along with Shaw and Davies, the Bucs got a huge lift from sophomore Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh, Scotland), who rebounded from a 5-over 75 on Wednesday to post an even par score of 70 on Thursday. Meanwhile, freshman Seamus Power (Waterford, Ireland) continued his solid play with a round of 3-over 73 to tie for 58th at 3-over for the championships.

Third round play will continue Friday with the Bucs teeing off at approximately 7:20 a.m. Fans can watch live scoring and keep up with Golfweek’s NCAA Championship coverage by visiting www.golfstat.com.

courtesy of ETSU Sports Information

Related Links:
 • Second Round Results