May 10, 2006

LINGER LONGER INVITATIONAL
May 14-15, 2006 • Greensboro, Ga.
Reynolds Plantation Oconee Course
Par 72 – 7,393 Yards

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The University of South Carolina men’s golf team will compete in one final regular season event, the Linger Longer Invitational, in Greensboro, Ga., Sunday and Monday, May 14-15. The 54-hole event, hosted by Mercer University, will be played at Reynolds Plantation’s Oconee Course, a Par-72, 7,393-yard layout.

At the conclusion of the Linger Longer Invitational, the Gamecocks will make their way directly to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the NCAA East Regional, May 18-20, at Lake Nona Golf Club.

HOW TO GET RESULTS
Live scoring during the tournament will be available online at www.lingerlongerinvitational.com or mercerbears.com. At the end of each day, a recap and complete list of results will be posted on South Carolina’s official athletics web site, www.uscsports.com.

CAROLINA LINEUP
Head coach Puggy Blackmon will use the same lineup for the fifth straight tournament at the Linger Longer Invitational. That group includes senior Eirik Johansen, sophomore Mark Anderson, redshirt freshman Patrick Cunning and true freshmen Florian Fritsch and Allen Koon. Sophomore Warren Thomas will also make the trip and compete as an indiviudal.

Player   Tourneys    Rounds  Stroke Avg.     Low Rd.1. Eirik Johansen  10  30  72.73   672. Florian Fritsch    9   27  72.89   673. Mark Anderson    10  30  75.43   714. Allen Koon  7   21  75.90   715. Patrick Cunning    6   18  74.61   67Warren Thomas (ind.)    2   6   78.33   73

THE LINGER LONGER FIELD
The Linger Longer Invitational features a 12-team field and includes: Augusta State, Charlotte, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Missouri, North Carolina, Norht Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Six of the competing teams have also been selected for NCAA Regional play. Missouri is the No. 20 seed in the Central Region while No. 1 Georgia, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 9 Charlotte and No. 14 Florida State join South Carolina in next week’s East Region field.

JOHANSEN EARNS THIRD ALL-SEC HONOR; FRITSCH MAKES SECOND TEAM
Eirik Johansen (Stavanger, Norway) and Florian Fritsch (Wiesloch, Germany) were selected to the 2006 all-Southeastern Conference Golf Teams. Johansen, a senior, made the all-SEC first team for the third time in his career while Fritsch has been named to the second team in his freshman season at South Carolina.

After earning first-team honors as both a freshman and sophomore, Johansen received the nod again as a senior. He becomes the third USC golfer to collect first-team All-SEC honors in three seasons, joining David Seawell (1994, 1995, 1996) and Kyle Thompson (1998, 1999, 2001).

South Carolina has had at least one player on the All-SEC team in every season since joining the league in 1992. Gamecocks have collected a total of 21 all-conference honors during that span.

CAROLINA EARNS 11TH-STRAIGHT NCAA REGIONAL BID
The University of South Carolina men’s golf team will compete in the NCAA East Regional Regional, which will be played May 18-20 at Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The Gamecocks, who earned their 11th-straight NCAA Regional invitation under head coach Puggy Blackmon, are the No. 13 seed in the East. Three regional tournaments, encompassing the current nine regions, will be conducted May 18-20. A total of 27 teams and six individuals not on selected teams were assigned to each regional site. Ten teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from each regional to the championship finals, played May 31 to June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. Other SEC teams included in the East Regional are No. 1 Georgia, No. 11 Auburn and No. 12 Tennessee. South Carolina competed in the West Regional in Stanford, Calif., last season and came up just shy of advancing to the NCAA Championship after finishing tied for 10th place but falling in a playoff.

SEVEN SEC TEAMS MAKE NCAA REGIONAL FIELD
Seven Southeastern Conference teams were selected into the three NCAA Regionals. In the East, the SEC will be represented by defending national champion and No. 1 seed Georgia, No. 11 Auburn, No. 12 Tennessee and No. 13 South Carolina. No. 4 seed Kentucky will compete in the Central Regional in Cleveland, Ohio, while No. 1 seed Florida and No. 6 Alabama will travel to Tucson, Ariz., for the West Regional. In addition, Vanderbilt’s Luke List (East) and Matt Bortis (Central) will compete as inviduals.

GAMECOCKS IN THE RANKINGS
South Carolina is receiving votes in the latest GCAA Bridgestone Coaches Poll (April 27) and ranks No. 42 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings (May 8). Senior captain Eirik Johansen is No. 49 and freshman Florian Fritsch is No. 57, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Individual Ratings.