March 28, 2008

GREENVILLE, S.C. --- The Samford men's golf team had an excellent first round in day one of the 39th Annual Furman Intercollegiate which is being held at the Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, S.C. The Bulldogs are seventh out of 24 teams and are holding their own some of the nation's top golf teams.

There are seven top 40 teams participating in the Furman Intercollegiate and Samford is ahead of three, including No. 3 South Carolina-Aiken. The Bulldogs shot 296 as a team Friday, just nine strokes behind the lead.

"We are right up there with some great teams," Samford head coach Woodie Eubanks said. "I mean seven of the top 50 teams. That's great for us. I hope we can continue to build on this momentum and take it into tomorrow and move up."

No. 19 Tennessee-Chattanooga leads the first of 24, shooting 287 at one under par. No. 15 South Carolina trails three strokes in second place, followed by No. 16 Clemson (292). Vanderbilt is just one shot out of the top three, claiming fourth place while Ohio State (No. 49) rounds out the top five. Ahead of Samford is Western Carolina at sixth place and just behind Samford, tied for eighth place, are Furman and Francis Marion.

No. 3 South Carolina-Aiken comes in a tenth, followed by No. 31 Virginia Tech at 11th place. East Carolina is 12th, Davidson is 13th, No. 38 North Florida is 14th, and UNC-Wilmington is 15th. In a three-way tie for 16th place are Charleston Southern, Presbyterian and Elon followed by Winthrop at 19th place. Rhode Island and Appalachian State are tied for 20th, Wofford and Old Dominion are tied at 22nd and Marshall comes in a 24th place.

Tyler Baird and John Turnipseed lead the Bulldog playing five tied for 17th place. The duo shot identical rounds of 73, just one over par. Martin Bunt and Ian Cutting are tied for 43rd place, both shooting 75 while Houston Hough shot 80 to put him in a tie for 103rd place.

Tournament play will resume Saturday morning with the second round of the Furman Intercollegiate. Teams will tee off at 8 a.m. Live scoring is available via the Golfstat website and a full recap and results will be posted on www.samfordsports.com after the round is complete.

7 Samford University 296
T17 Tyler Baird 73
T17 John Turnipseed 73
T43 Martin Bunt 75
T43 Ian Cutting 75
T103 Houston Hough 80