MG tied for ninth place at NCAA Tournament

05/13/08

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Braselton, GA- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's golf team is in striking distance of the lead after the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Championship Tuesday afternoon in Georgia. The Cru fired a 311 team total to tie with Methodist University and Wesley College for ninth place after the opening day. The University of La Verne has the overall team lead after shooting 291 as a team. Skidmore College is second with a 301 total, St. John Fisher shot 302 for third place, Linfield College and University of Redlands both shot 304 to tie for fourth place, Huntingdon College is sixth at 305, Oglethorpe University posted a 306 for seventh place and LaGrange College carded a 307 for eighth place, four strokes ahead of the Cru. Hope College is one shot behind UMHB with a 312 for 12th place, Williams College is 13th with a 313, St. John's and Wisconsin-Eau Claire are tied for 14th place after recording 314's. UMHB played the Woodlands Course, a par-71, 6,738-yard layout that played harder than the Chateau Course today. The three teams tied for ninth, and seventh-place Oglethorpe were the only schools in the top ten to play the Woodlands Course today. There is a 35-team field and a total of 180 golfers playing in the tournament.

The Cru was led individually by Casey Wharton's three-over-par 74. Wharton is tied for 16th place individually. Davis Dewald and Garrison Nordt both shot 78's for the Cru to tie for 52nd place. Ryan Eastman fired an 81 to tie for 87th place and Eric White carded an 84 for the Cru and is tied for 130th place. Scott Harris, Jr. of St. John Fisher has the overall individual lead after posting a 68, he is one stroke ahead of Pacific University's Max Bonk.

"I thought we had a good day," Cru head coach Randy Mann said. "There were a couple of holes that hurt us or we would be in even better shape. We have a chance to go out and do it again tomorrow and stay in the top ten or even move up a couple of spots."

The tournament is a four-day, 72-hole event and the field will be cut to the top 23 teams and the top five individuals not on one of those 23 teams following tomorrow's round. The Cru will begin teeing off in tomorrow's second round at 7:00 AM Central Time. UMHB will play the Chateau Course tomorrow.