Samford Men's Golf Fourth; Women Sixth In F&M Bank Intercollegiate

--- Bradley Pate sits at first after two rounds ---

Oct. 23, 2006

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ---- The Samford University men’s and women’s golf completed the first day of competition at the F&M Bank Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio Valley Conference rival Austin Peay. Despite the cold, windy weather, the men’s team sits in a tie for sixth place with Cincinnati and UT Martin, while the women are in sixth.

After two rounds of play at the par 72 links at the Novadell course, the Samford men shot a combined score of 589, 17 over par, to tie for sixth on the day. The men shot a 290 in the first round, to put them at fourth, but dropped to sixth after shooting 299 in the second round. Troy University and Murray State University currently lead the field shooting 575.

“I saw a lot of promise in the first round today,” said Samford men’s head coach Woodie Eubanks. “This was the best tournament round we’ve played this year so far. We played outstanding considering the cold and windy weather conditions. We just need to whole team to come together tomorrow and play well and want it.”

Individually, the Bulldogs placed two in the top-20, with Bradley Pate sitting at the number one position. Pate shot 66 in the first round to put at the top of the field, and he stayed there after shooting a 71 in the second round. Reed Davis, shooting 144, is currently tied at 16th with Jake Brodhead of Troy, Michael Craft of Murray State, and Matt Gann of Morehead State.

The Samford women shot a combined 335 in the first round of the 36-hole tournament at the par-71 Clarksville Country Club, and are in good position to move up in the rankings, as only five strokes separates Samford from Austin Peay who sit at fourth. Currently, Butler University leads the tournament with a combined score of 322.

“It was a very difficult day to play golf,” said Samford women’s head coach Ian Thompson. “It was very windy and very cold. It was a struggle, but to have played like we did and still be within reasonable distance of the leaders is what we’ve got to take from today.”

For the women, Courtney Warr tied for 15th overall, after shooting 82 on the day. Katelyn Stanier followed right behind tied for 19th, shooting 83, and Maria Troche and Heather Arnold tied at 30th, each shooting 85. Kellie O’Connell shot 87 to put her at 39th place.

“We’ve got something to play for tomorrow and hopefully we will have an opportunity to move up and get near the lead,” said Thompson. “I’ve challenged the team to do that. Today was a tough day, and tomorrow will be tough again, but we’ve been playing well and hopefully we can produce a good number tomorrow.”

The Bulldogs will wrap up competition at the F&M Bank Intercollegiate Tuesday. The women’s team is set to tee off with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., while the men’s team will tee off in a 9 a.m. shotgun start.

**** SAMFORD BULLDOGS ****