March 10, 2008

ONEONTA, Ala. --- Day one of the Samford Men's Intercollegiate was picture perfect for the Bulldog playing five Monday. Beautiful blue skies and perfect temperatures along with a top five spot after the first round. The Bulldogs shot 295 in round one to land the fifth place spot in the first day of the two-day event at Limestone Springs Golf Course in Oneonta, Ala.

The field of teams was slated to play two 18-hole rounds on Monday. However, time passed by quickly and round two was incomplete when the horn blew. The second round will be completed Tuesday morning beginning at 8:30 a.m., with a shot gun start for round three immediately following.

Fellow OVC opponent Eastern Kentucky leads the field after round one with a total score of 288. USC-Upstate and New Orleans are tied at second place, shooting 289, with West Florida (292) and Samford (295) rounding out the top five. Josh Gallman of USC-Upstate is at the top of the players rankings, while his teammate Tyler Tucker had the only hole-in-one of the day on the seventh green.

Rounding out the field of teams is Troy at sixth followed by Illinois State, Murray State, Tennessee-Martin and Tennessee State at seventh through tenth places, respectively. Nicholls State sits at 11th place wile Austin Peay is 12th, Lipscomb is 13th, Winthrop is 14th, Tennessee Tech is 15th, Southern Illinois is 16th, and Morehead State is 17th.

Leading the Bulldogs is Martin Bunt, tied at 12th place. Bunt shot 72 in round one while John Turnipseed and Houston Hough tied for 21st place shooting 74. Individual Don Franklin is also tied for 21st place. Tyler Baird came in fourth for the Samford men, shooting 75 to tie for 34th place and Ian Cutting shot 77 to tie for 47th place. Individuals Bobby Baird and Chris Duffy shot 84 and 85, respectively.

The Samford Intercollegiate will resume play Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. with the final holes of the second round. The third round will follow with a shot-gun start. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com at the conclusion of play.

5 Samford University 295
T12 Martin Bunt 72
T21 John Turnipseed 74
T21 Houston Hough 74
T34 Tyler Baird 75
T47 Ian Cutting 77

IndividualsDon Franklin 74
82 Bobby Baird 84
83 Chris Duffy 85