Feb. 28, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s golf team, ranked No. 7 in the latest GolfStat ratings, will open their spring season on Monday as they travel to Wilmington, N.C., for the Seahawk Intercollegiate. The tournament runs Monday and Tuesday at the Country Club of Landfall (Dye Course).

The Gamecock lineup will be the same as it has been for each of the first four tournaments of the year with seniors George Bryan IV, Patrick Rada and Paul Woodbury paired with sophomore Wesley Bryan and redshirt freshman Clint Tolleson. The quintet has combined to earn a tournament victory at the Rees Jones Intercollegiate in October and also tied for first place at the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate in late September before falling in a sudden-death playoff to Middle Tennessee State.

Also competing for South Carolina this weekend will be freshman Dean Hester, who will be playing as an individual in his first varsity tournament. Hester has been a strong competitor for the Gamecocks in three junior varsity “Garnet Team” events, tying for third at the Coker Intercollegiate in October and earning top-15 finishes at the Charleston Southern Fall Invitational and this month’s Johnny Palmer at Old North State.

Through four events, Bryan IV leads the team with a 72.09 stroke average which ranks 12th in the Southeastern Conference; he also has a tournament victory at the Rees Jones. Rada is next at 73.09 with three top-20 finishes, including a career-best tie for second place at the Mason Rudolph.

The Gamecocks will face a field that includes 10th-ranked Augusta State to go along with Davidson, Drexel, East Carolina, Georgia State, James Madison, North Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth, William & Mary and Wake Forest.

Pairings, tee times and information on live scoring were not available as of Sunday afternoon. Check back with GamecocksOnline.com for complete coverage of this week’s tournament.