March 20, 2006

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. --- The Samford University men's golf team is in third place after 18 holes of play at the 2006 Grub Mart Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville State University at the Silver Lakes Golf Course on Monday. The teams were supposed to play 36 holes of the 52-hole tournament on Monday, but weather forced officials to shorten the tournament.

Samford shot a team score of 290, just two over par and ten strokes back of the University of New Orleans, who is in first after shooting an eight-under-par 280. The Bulldogs' top performer was Andrew Villareal, who shot a three-under-par 69, and is currently tied for second.

"We're starting to come around," said Samford head coach Woodie Eubanks. "Everything we've been working on is starting to click, and this is the right time of the season for everything to click. I'm very pleased with Andrew's performance today, he's struggled over the past few weeks, but today he played really well.. This is when we blossomed last year, and it looks like we're starting to blossom again. Overall, I'm very happy with how we played as whole; we showed a lot of promise today. I know we're ten strokes back of first, but I think that we have a legitimate shot to win our first tournament of the year."

Ryan Mayberry is currently in fifth place, just behind Villareal, after shooting a 70 (-2) on the day. Reed Davis is tied for 31st after shooting a 75 (+3) and Bradley Pate shot a 76 (+4) to tie for 43rd.

The 2006 Grub Mart Intercollegiate concludes on Tuesday, and will include only 18 holes. Samford is set to tee off at 9:20 a.m., along with UNO and host Jacksonville State, who is in second place.