April 30, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple golf team will look to earn a conference-record seventh title when it competes in the 30th annual Atlantic 10 Championship beginning on Friday at the Orange County National Golf Course in Winter Green, FL. To do so, the Owls will most likely have to knock off the two-time defending champions and fifth-ranked Charlotte 49ers.
The Championship tees off on Friday with Charlotte looking to once again defend its title. The 49ers have claimed the last two A-10 titles and represented the league with a third-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championship. Charlotte is looking to become the first team to win three consecutive A-10 crowns since Penn State won five straight from 1986-91.
The Cherry and White, under first-year head coach and former letterwinner Brian Quinn, has enjoyed a strong spring season and aims to better its eighth-place finish from a year ago. Temple finished second at the season-opening SIU Edwardsville Cougar Classic and was fourth at the Mount St. Mary's Spring Invitational.
Junior Paul Amess leads the Owls with a 74.0 stroke average and four top-five performances. The southpaw has been consistently ranked as one of the top 10 players in the league, by scoring average, this season.
Sophomore Eric Plisko has averaged 75.3 strokes this season, including a career-best 68 at the Princeton Invitational. The remainder of the starting lineup includes three freshman - Sasha Bozic (75.6), Andrew Mason (76.6) and Joseph Kim (78.3). Bozic and Mason have combined for five A-10 Rookie of the Week honors.
Joining Temple and Charlotte in the quest for the A-10 title are Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's and Xavier.
Tee times for all three rounds of the Championship begin at 8:00am.
