Eagles Set to Tee Off 2010 Spring Season in Florida
2/13/2010 12:10:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, GA – The second portion of the collegiate golf season is set to begin for Georgia Southern when the team tees off at the SunTrust Gator Invitational to open the 2010 spring campaign. The two-day tournament, hosted by the University of Florida, will be contested at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Florida.
Competition opens Saturday morning with an 8 a.m. shotgun start with two consecutive 18-hole rounds. The final round of play will take place on Sunday with tee times from 8 a.m.- 10:06 a.m. from the first and tenth tees. Georgia Southern enters the 14-team field tabbed No. 79 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
“It's been a long off-season since late October and we are all looking forward to getting started this weekend,” said Eagle head coach Larry Mays. “The boys have been practicing hard and are anxious to get the spring season started.”
The remainder of the 14-team field includes two top 10 teams and six squads within the top 50 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Vying for the 33rd annual tournament title will be: Coastal Carolina, No. 22 Duke, No. 4 Florida, No. 9 FSU, Georgia State, Lamar, No. 33 LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, UAB, UCF, No. 27 UNF, and No. 41 Chattanooga.
Florida has won the event 23 times since its inauguration in 1978 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course and enters this weekend's tournament having won the past six in a row. Including Florida, only six of the 14 teams participating have ever claimed the title. Augusta State, Georgia and LSU have each taken the event twice and Florida State and Georgia Southern have claimed the crown once. The Eagles won the tournament in 1980.
“This has always been a good tournament to start the spring season for us. For one, it's not that far from home and two, it's a challenging golf course,” stated Mays. “It's not long, but it is challenging and forces players to think and play smart golf. And in addition, Buddy Alexander is an alumnus of Georgia Southern and has always treated us extremely well when we go down there and we look forward to this tournament each year.”
Comprising the traveling squad for Georgia Southern in the spring opening tournament will be Ryan Zabroske (Alpharetta, Ga.), Spence Fulford (Rocky Mount, N.C.), Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.), Joe Monte (Chantilly, Va.) and Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria).
Several rounds highlighted the fall tournament schedule for the Eagles. Zabroske opened his senior campaign with his best collegiate fall slate and proved to be the Eagles' top performer. In 15 rounds, Zabroske posted a 71.47 stroke average – leading the team entering the spring, claimed three 'Top 5' finishes and career-best rounds. Sander made his Eagle debut in fall competition, playing 12 rounds and posting two 'Top 10' finishes. Fulford fired a career-low 9-under par 63 at the SpringHill Suites Intercollegiate, setting the competitive course record en route to tying for a third-place finish and helping the Eagles claim the title.
“We want to get off to a good start for the spring – go down there and play solid golf. Our main focus entering the spring is consistency. We had good individual finishes and some good team finishes in the fall, but we are focusing on having more consistency throughout our lineup from top to bottom.
“Our goal for this tournament is for our guys to play the right way and make good decisions. And hopefully that will lead to good scores and a good finish in the tournament,” Mays said. “We are fortunate to open the spring on a course that if you play well, you can score well.”
Fans can follow the action at the SunTrust Gator Invitational with live scoring at www.golfstat.com.
Competition opens Saturday morning with an 8 a.m. shotgun start with two consecutive 18-hole rounds. The final round of play will take place on Sunday with tee times from 8 a.m.- 10:06 a.m. from the first and tenth tees. Georgia Southern enters the 14-team field tabbed No. 79 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
“It's been a long off-season since late October and we are all looking forward to getting started this weekend,” said Eagle head coach Larry Mays. “The boys have been practicing hard and are anxious to get the spring season started.”
The remainder of the 14-team field includes two top 10 teams and six squads within the top 50 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Vying for the 33rd annual tournament title will be: Coastal Carolina, No. 22 Duke, No. 4 Florida, No. 9 FSU, Georgia State, Lamar, No. 33 LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, UAB, UCF, No. 27 UNF, and No. 41 Chattanooga.
Florida has won the event 23 times since its inauguration in 1978 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course and enters this weekend's tournament having won the past six in a row. Including Florida, only six of the 14 teams participating have ever claimed the title. Augusta State, Georgia and LSU have each taken the event twice and Florida State and Georgia Southern have claimed the crown once. The Eagles won the tournament in 1980.
“This has always been a good tournament to start the spring season for us. For one, it's not that far from home and two, it's a challenging golf course,” stated Mays. “It's not long, but it is challenging and forces players to think and play smart golf. And in addition, Buddy Alexander is an alumnus of Georgia Southern and has always treated us extremely well when we go down there and we look forward to this tournament each year.”
Comprising the traveling squad for Georgia Southern in the spring opening tournament will be Ryan Zabroske (Alpharetta, Ga.), Spence Fulford (Rocky Mount, N.C.), Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.), Joe Monte (Chantilly, Va.) and Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria).
Several rounds highlighted the fall tournament schedule for the Eagles. Zabroske opened his senior campaign with his best collegiate fall slate and proved to be the Eagles' top performer. In 15 rounds, Zabroske posted a 71.47 stroke average – leading the team entering the spring, claimed three 'Top 5' finishes and career-best rounds. Sander made his Eagle debut in fall competition, playing 12 rounds and posting two 'Top 10' finishes. Fulford fired a career-low 9-under par 63 at the SpringHill Suites Intercollegiate, setting the competitive course record en route to tying for a third-place finish and helping the Eagles claim the title.
“We want to get off to a good start for the spring – go down there and play solid golf. Our main focus entering the spring is consistency. We had good individual finishes and some good team finishes in the fall, but we are focusing on having more consistency throughout our lineup from top to bottom.
“Our goal for this tournament is for our guys to play the right way and make good decisions. And hopefully that will lead to good scores and a good finish in the tournament,” Mays said. “We are fortunate to open the spring on a course that if you play well, you can score well.”
Fans can follow the action at the SunTrust Gator Invitational with live scoring at www.golfstat.com.
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