Sept. 14, 2010

FLORENCE, S.C. - The Samford University men's golf team earned a fourth-place finish at the season-opening Springhill Suites Intercollegiate Tournament on Tuesday as the Bulldogs tallied a 54-hole score of 874 (295-283-296) in the 15-team, two-day event hosted by Francis Marion University at the Country Club of South Carolina.

The 26th-annual tournament was played on CCSC's par 72, 7,062-yard course.

"I'm extremely proud of our group of guys and how much they've improved since last season," said Samford head coach Woodie Eubanks. "Last year, they were true freshmen and we finished 16th in this same tournament. This year, they've matured, gotten acclimated to playing at the collegiate level and placed fourth in this highly competitive tournament. I was very impressed with our play this week."

Samford sophomore Drew Aimone carded a three-round score of 215 (70-68-77) to earn a seventh-place finish in the talent-laden two-day competition Tuesday. The Bulldogs' native of Savannah, Ga., turned in the team's best score of the tournament Monday as he posted a brilliant 4-under 68.

Aimone's seventh-place finish was the sophomore's best performance of his young collegiate career and was his first top-10 outing at Samford. He led all five Bulldogs at this week's event.

"I thought Drew did an outstanding job this week," Eubanks said. "He turned in some really impressive scores and seemed to do a really good job of keeping his composure. Most of these guys are only sophomores, but since they played in a lot of tournaments as true freshmen, they all have tons of experience. I think that experience from last year really helped him this week."

Four of Samford's five competitors in the 2010 Springhill Suites Intercollegiate were sophomores. The Bulldogs' lone upperclassman in the tournament was senior Martin Bunt.

Sophomore Bill Nabors finished second on the team with a 54-hole score of 219, while fellow-sophomores Casey O'Toole and Gabe Hyde placed third and fourth, respectively. O'Toole, the Bulldogs' native of Oneonta, Ala., carded a three-round score of 221, while Hyde turned in a two-day total of 224.

Nabors' 3-over par mark of 219 was good enough for a 22nd-place finish in the tournament. Bunt, Samford's senior from Pensacola, Fla., concluded the 54-hole competition with a score of 226.

"Compared to how we competed in this tournament last season, this is almost like having a totally new team," said Eubanks. "We made so many major improvements this year and we finished tied with Georgia Southern, who is typically one of the best teams in the SoCon. We were also only four shots away from Furman, who won the conference last year, so I'm pleased with the progress we've made."

Samford registered a final-round mark of 296 to finish the 54-hole event tied for fourth place along with Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern.

Chattanooga placed first of all the Division I schools at 866, followed by Furman University (870), Jacksonville State University (871) and Samford (874), along with two-time defending tournament champion Georgia Southern University (874).

"I'm just blown away with how much we improved in this tournament," said Eubanks. "I'm just so proud of these guys, but we still have a lot of improvements that we can make. Our team is still extremely young and the ceiling for this group is extremely high. My hope for this season is to earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament."

Chattanooga redshirt freshman Chris Robb led the individual tournament from start to finish. He fired a final-round 72 to finish at 9-under 207. Jacobo Pastor of Charleston Southern University carded the low individual round Tuesday, at 2-under-par 70.