May 14, 2008

MEMPHIS - When the NCAA East Regional gets underway Thursday, the University of Memphis men's golf team will be competing in their first postseason tournament in 20 years. The tournament will be held May 15-17 at the Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. The field will consist of 27 teams and the tournament will be hosted the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Head men's golf coach Grant Robbins, in his fifth year at the helm of his alma mater, was selected the 2008 Conference USA Coach of the Year for guiding his team to an outstanding season. Robbins lettered as a player for the Tigers from 1990-1994.

Among the five Tigers competing in the regional will be senior All-Conference USA selections Ian Rochester and Robbie Greenwell. Rochester, a Cordova native, was named to the first team and Greenwell, a native of Georgetown, Ontario was named to the second team. Greenwell was also named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team.

Junior Brad Benjamin was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year. The Rockford, Ill. native became the league's first two-time recipient of the award and the only player selected in both years of its existence. Benjamin's best finish this spring was a tie for fourth at the Rice Intercollegiate.

Sophomore Brandon Bunn of Knoxville tied for fifth at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate and also posted a tie for eighth at the C-USA Championships. Senior Kyle Ritchie tied for 18th at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate. The Corning, Iowa native graduated this spring with a degree in business finance.

"We're very excited to get an at-large bid for regionals," said Robbins. "It's a very deserving reward for players who worked hard this year. We've been playing our best golf at the end of year and I feel like we have a good chance of advancing to the National Championships."

The top ten teams in the regional will move on to the National Championships. As will the top two individual performers not on an advancing team. Council Fire is a 6, 961 yard course, par 71. The Tigers are scheduled to begin the tournament at 7 a.m. (eastern) on Thursday. Live stats will be available on www.golfstat.com.