March 26, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
IRVING, Texas - Houston saved the best for last as the Cougars used a strong final round to surge four spots up the leaderboad to claim sixth-place in the Tucson National Invitational Tournament at the Omni Tucson National Golf Club. Junior transfer Ben Moser carded three solid rounds en route to earning co-champion honors, along with Tulsa's Nicolas Geyger. The Golden Hurricane finished ninth in the event.
CO-MEN'S GOLFERS OF THE WEEK
NICOLAS GEYGER - Tulsa
Jr., Santiago, Chile (St. George College)
Geyger won his second tournament of the season and the fourth of his career as he tied for first-place at the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson, Arizona, at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course. Geyger shared medalist honors with Houston's Ben Moser. He carded rounds of 69-68-71 for an 8-under par 208 score in a field of 81 golfers. This is Geyger's fourth career weekly honor, his second in 2007-08 (Oct. 31).
CO-MEN'S GOLFERS OF THE WEEK
BEN MOSER - Houston
Jr., Waterloo, Ontario (Kent State)
Moser tied for medalist honors at the National Invitational Tournament with Tulsa's Nicolas Geyger. The junior transfer fired an 8-under-par 208 to set personal bests after 18, 36 and 54 holes since joining the UH squad. His score tied for the lowest round by any Cougar this season. He shot 7-under-par during the final two rounds to make a big move to the top of the leaderboard. Moser joined Houston senior Jordan Irwin as the only Cougars to capture medalist honors in 2007-08. The weekly honor is the first of Moser's career.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES
BRANDON BUNN - Memphis
Bunn shot a 1-under-par 71 in the final round to finish in a tie for fifth place at the USA Mobile Bay Intercollegiate. Bunn shot a 219 (74-74-71) in the 54-hole event.
GREG FOREST - UCF
Competing at an event that featured 11 of the top-50 squads in the nation, Forest tied for seventh at the Hootie at Bulls Bay. The junior recorded his third top-10 finish of the campaign by posting a 211 (-2) at the three-round tournament. In the final round, he posted a two-under 69. Forest began the event with a one-under 70. Behind the play of Forest, the 19th-ranked Knights finished seventh at the 15-team tournament, ahead of several ranked squads, including No. 11 Duke and No. 14 Wake Forest.
GOLFWEEK TOP 100 RANKINGS
19. UCF
27. UAB
48. SMU
70. Memphis
79. Southern Miss
81. East Carolina
EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina's Markus Leandersson (72-73-72) tied for 10th at 4-over to lead ECU to a tie for seventh place at the 2008 Pinehurst Intercollegiate, co-hosted by East Carolina University and Indiana... ECU junior Andre Thorsen carded a 68 on Tuesday, the lowest score of the final round, and finished with a 54-hole total of 11-over par (81-78-68=227) in 32nd place... Freshman Warren Straub also recorded a top 50 finish with a 14-over par 230 (79-74-77) in 47th place... Sophomore Tanner Briele shot 16-over (79-78-75=232), while classmate Tripp Brizendine completed the tournament at 24-over (85-78-77=240)... The Pirates will return to competition March 28-30 at the Furman Intercollegiate in Greenville, S.C.
HOUSTON
Houston saved the best for last as the Cougars used a strong final round to surge four spots up the leaderboad to claim sixth-place in the Tucson National Invitational Tournament at the Omni Tucson National Golf Club... Junior transfer Ben Moser carded three solid rounds en route to earning co-champion honors, along with Tulsa's Nicolas Geyger and David Markle of Kent State... Moser ended the tournament at 8-under-par (71-68-69) and notched his first collegiate victory... For his efforts he shared C-USA Golfer of the Week honors with Geyger... As a team, the Cougars shot the second-lowest round on the last day, a 286... Coming off back-to-back top-10 performances, the Cougars travel to Augusta, Ga. to square off against Augusta State in a head-to-head contest played at the Champions Retreat Golf Course, April 4-6.
MARSHALL
Marshall wrapped up play at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate March 18 with a 54-hole score of 943 to finish 18th against a strong field at Pinehurst No. 8 Mar. 16-18... Marshall finished its final round with a 20-over par total of 308... Trent Schambach led the Thundering Herd with a 39th place individual finish after firing a weekend and spring-low 1-over 73 Tuesday... Schambach had a chance to close the final day under par, but came away with a double bogey on the 18th hole... Sophomore Christian Brand finished in a tie for 59th with a 15-over par 231 after shooting a 6-over 78 on the final day... Junior Nathan Kinker finished 74th overall with a three-day total of 235... Marshall will be in action again March 28 as it travels to Greenville, S.C., for the Furman Invitational.
MEMPHIS
Memphis finished third in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate hosted by South Alabama... The Tigers posted a team total of 879 during the 54-hole event... Five Tigers finished in the top-25 individually led by sophomore Brandon Bunn... Bunn (74-74-71) shot a one-under-par 71 in the final round and finished in a tie for fifth place... Senior Ian Rochester (75-78-68) fired a tournament low round of 68 in round three, propelling him into a tie for 10th... Seniors Robbie Greenwell (74-76-73) and Kyle Ritchie (74-73-78) tied for 12th and 18th respectively... Junior Brad Benjamin (80-75-72) tied for 24th in the field... Memphis will return to action April 7-8 when they compete in the Bank of America Intercollegiate in Madison, Miss.
RICE
Rice closed out play with a 313 team round to finish in a tie for 11th Tuesday at the Carter Plantation Intercollegiate... The Owls shot a 943 at the Southeastern Louisiana-hosted tournament.... Rice was led by Christopher Brown who shot a 76 Tuesday to card a three-round score of 236 and finish in a tie for 36th... Rice had three other players tie for 44th with scores of 238 - Kyle Kelley, Addison Awe and Michael Whitehead... Rice returns to action April 11-13 when the Owls travel to the Wolfpack Invitational in Wallace, N.C.
SMU
SMU finished fifth in a loaded field at the Barona Collegiate Cup at Barona Creek Golf Club on March 18... SMU carded a final round total of 286 on the par-72 course and finished at 4-under 860 for the 54-hole tournament... Dan Kleckner led SMU, posting his best finish of the season at 3-under 213 to tie for 12th... Scott Barton's final-round 69 saw him jump up to 15th place at 2-under 214, while Kelly Kraft slipped to 27th at 2-over 218 after a final-round 76... Up next for SMU is the Shocker Classic, March 30 in Wichita, Kansas.
SOUTHERN MISS
Senior Kyle Ramey and sophomore Wes Carter tied for sixth and ninth place, respectively, and Southern Miss posted a team score of 900 to finish in third at the Jacksonville State hosted Grub Mart-Young Oil Intercollegiate, played at the Silver Lakes Golf Course in Gadsden, Ala Mar. 17-18... Ramey finished with a final round 73 for a three-round total of 223, while Carter shot a 69 to finish one shot back at 224... Sophomore Paul Apyan shot a final round of 75 for a three-round total of 227... Southern Miss will now travel to Mobile, Ala. for the South Alabama hosted Mobile Bay Intercollegiate, March 24-25.
TULSA
Tulsa's Nicolas Geyger tied for first-place at the National Invitational Tournament on Tuesday... Geyger carded a final round 71 and finished with an eight-under par 208... The Tulsa junior tied with Houston's Ben Moser and Kent State's David Markle... For his efforts he shared C-USA Golfer of the Week honors with Moser... The Hurricane finished in a 10th place tie with a final round 289 for an 883 total on the par-72 Omni Tucson National Golf Course... The Golden Hurricane returns to the links Apr. 7-8 at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, Texas.
UAB
Senior Brad Smith finished tied for sixth overall to lead No. 25 UAB to a fifth-place finish at the 29th annual Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational March 14-16... The Blazers finished tied with tournament host Georgia Southern (301-288-281), each closing with a six-over par 870... The Blazers were among eight teams ranked in the top-25 and 12 ranked among the top-50 in the nation in the latest national poll who competed at the three-day, 54-hole event... Smith entered Sunday's third and final round in a six-way tie for the overall lead... However, after recording a five-under par 139 through the opening two rounds, the Hawthorn, Australia native recorded a one-over par 73 during the last day and finished with a four-under 212... The Blazers will have nearly a month off before they compete next at the Nissan Intercollegiate on April 7-8 in Jackson, Miss.
No. 19 UCF
Junior Greg Forest finished seventh in the individual standings as UCF concluded play at the Hootie at Bulls Bay on Tuesday at the Bulls Bay Golf Club... The 19th-ranked Knights finished eighth at the 15-team tournament, which featured 11 of the top-50 squads in the nation... The Knights posted a three-round total of 866 (+14)... The team finished one stroke behind 13th-ranked Auburn... Forest tied for seventh (211, -2). In the final round, he carded a two-under 69... The Knights' next tournament is slated for April 7-8... The team will head to Austin, Texas, to compete at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate.
UTEP
Josh Taylor fired an 11-over-par 227 (76-74-77) to lead the UTEP men's golf team on the final day of the National Invitational Tournament on Tuesday in Tucson, Ariz... Taylor tied for 58th place for the Miners, who finished 15th at the tournament with a tally of 921 (311-305-305)... UTEP's Roger Sloan tied for 63rd place (74-81-73-228)... Zac Hildenbrand tied for 67th place (81-73-76-230)... The Miners will next play at the Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz. Apr. 7-8.
