Oct. 2, 2011

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University men's golf team will participate in its third tournament of the 2011 fall season Monday and Tuesday at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate hosted by the University of Alabama. The two-day competition will be held at the Old Overton Club.

The 2011 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate will feature a field of 12 teams. On Monday, the teams will play 36 holes, while the third-and-final round of the 54-hole tournament will be held Tuesday.

This week, Samford will be competing against the following teams: Alabama, Arizona, Auburn, Clemson, Louisville, Mississippi State, Middle Tennessee State, Texas, Southern Methodist, UAB and UNLV.

The tournament is named in honor of 1974 U.S. Amateur champion Jerry Pate. The former Alabama golfer plays on the PGA's Champions Tour after a successful career on the PGA Tour.

The 2011 field includes 12 teams, five of which are ranked in the Golf World/NIKE Golf Coaches' poll and/or the Golfweek Sagarin Rankings. Alabama, the third-ranked team in the nation, is joined this week by fellow nationally-ranked teams No. 5 Texas, No. 7 Florida, No. 9 Auburn and No. 16 Clemson.

Since its inception, the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate has seen some powerful names in the world of golf win its individual title. Current PGA Tour golfers Rory Sabbatini, Hunter Mahan and D.J. Trahan have all won medalist honors at the Pate, and arguably the greatest golfer of all-time, Tiger Woods, won the JPNI in 1994 while competing for Stanford.

Samford heads into this week's tournament after earning a 10th-place finish at the talent-laden Mason Rudolph Championship held at the highly-acclaimed Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course. The prestigious three-day event was hosted by Vanderbilt University.

The Bulldogs placed four strokes ahead of South Carolina and only eight strokes behind eighth-place and host-school Vanderbilt. Samford closed out the 54-hole competition with a total team score of 873 (293-293-287).

Junior Casey O'Toole led the Bulldogs to their best round of the tournament. O'Toole fired a tournament-best score of 2-under-par 69 and paced Samford to an 18-hole tally of 287. O'Toole, the Bulldogs' native of Oneonta, Ala., finished the three-day competition with a score of even-par 213 (71-73-69) and placed 14th in the individual standings.

Samford's Drew Aimone finished 34th in the tournament and carded a 54-hole score of 219 (74-72-73). He was followed closely by teammates Gabe Hyde (75-74-74=223) and Bill Nabors (80-74-71=225). Sophomore William Catanzaro also tallied a solid three-round score as the Bulldogs' native of Gadsden, Ala., finished with a 227 (73-79-75).

Following Samford's opening two rounds of competition Monday, the Bulldogs will return to the Old Overton Club in Birmingham on Tuesday for the final round of competition in the 2011 Jerry Pate Intercollegiate.