April 15, 2008

LEXINGTON, Ky. --- The Samford men's golf team ended the season Monday with a disappointing 16th-place finish in the Bluegrass Invitational hosted by the University of Kentucky. The field of 18 teams fought unkind conditions in the two-day tournament held at Big Blue Course in Lexington, Ky.

The Bulldogs shot a season-high 958 as a team, with their lowest score (315) coming in the final round of play. Freshman Martin Bunt led the Bulldogs, finishing in the top 25. Bunt tied for 24th with a three-round total of 231, his third highest tournament score of the season. Bunt was the only Bulldog to shoot three sub-80 rounds in the tournament, however (75-77-79).

Junior Bobby Baird followed Bunt from a distance, finishing in a tie for 46th place (235). He finished round one and two with 80 and 81, respectively, but faired well in the final round, shooting seven strokes better than his previous round. Fellow junior Ian Cutting tied for 69th place, shooting 242 while John Turnipseed (250) and Don Franklin (268) rounded out the Samford five.

The University of Central Florida won the tournament, with Murray State and Missouri following in a tie for second place. Host team and No. 58 Kentucky took fourth place followed by Western Carolina, Miami (OH), Eastern Kentucky, Toledo, Western Kentucky and Akron round out the top ten. Ball State finished 11th, Austin Peay came in 12th, Cincinnati in 13th, Dayton in 14th, Ohio in 15th, Samford in 16th and Morehead State in 17th.

The Samford men will compete in the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Championship next Sunday through Tuesday, April 20-22. The three-day tournament is Tennessee Tech and will be held at the Paducah Country Club in Paducah, Ky.