May 29, 2006

NCAA MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
May 31 -June 3, 2006 • Sunriver, Ore.
Crosswater Golf Club
Par 72 – 7,630 Yards

NCAA Championship Notes
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The South Carolina men’s golf team will be competing on the final weekend of the college golf season. The Gamecocks travel to the 2006 NCAA Championship, May 31 to June 3, at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. The four-round, 72-hole event is hosted by the University of Portland.

The Championship field is comprised of 30 teams, the top-10 finishers in each of three regionals. The top six individuals not on those 30 teams also advanced to compete in Sunriver. After three rounds of play in the NCAA Championship, the field will be cut from 30 to 15 teams for the final 18 holes.

South Carolina is seeded 27th among the 30 teams and will tee off at the 10th hole in Wednesday’s first round at 8:47 a.m. (PDT).

Coming off their 11-straight bid to NCAA Regional play, the Gamecocks will be making their 14th appearance in the NCAA Championship. USC is one of three teams from the Palmetto State in the field, joining Coastal Carolina and Clemson.

TICKET INFORMATION
A complete tournament pass ($33) is available, or tickets can be purchased for each individual round ($13 each for rounds one, two and three, $18 for the final round). Ticket prices include a souvenir tournament program and an individual round pairing sheet.

Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the University of Portland at 503-943-7117. Tickets may also be purchased at the Sunriver Resort during the tournament. Pre-purchased tickets will be available to pick up at the Sunriver Resort

HOW TO GET RESULTS
Live scoring during the tournament will be available online at www.golfstatresults.com. A link to the updates can be found on uscsports.com in the weekly calendar on the right-hand side of the main page. At the end of each day, a recap and complete list of results will be also be posted on uscsports.com and sent out to the media. Additional information can be found online at www.portlandpilots.com.

CAROLINA’S NCAA HISTORY The Gamecocks will be making their 14th appearance in the NCAA finals (1964, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006). This will mark Carolina’s seventh trip to the Championship under head coach Puggy Blackmon. USC’s best showing is an eighth-place finish in 1988. Including his 13-year tenure as the head coach at Georgia Tech, Blackmon has taken 18 teams to the NCAA Championship.

GAMECOCK LINEUP
Head coach Puggy Blackmon will take the same lineup to the NCAA Championship that competed in the NCAA East Regional. That group includes one senior, two sophomores and two true freshmen. Senior capitan Eirik Johansen and sophomore Mark Anderson have played in all 12 events for USC this season. Freshmen Florian Fritsch and Allen Koon have competed in 11 and nine events, respectively. Sophomore Warren Thomas is in the lineup for the fifth time this season.

Player Tourneys    Rounds  Stroke Avg. Low Rd.1. Eirik Johansen  12  36  72.69   672. Mark Anderson    12  36  75.08   703. Allen Koon  9   27  75.67   694. Warren Thomas    4   12  76.58   725. Florian Fritsch    11  33  73.36   67

QUOTING COACH BLACKMON
“We’re definitely excited about competing in the finals. With this team, at this point in the year, you never know what could happen. If you look at the regional, we improved 20 shots from the first day to the last. We have nothing to lose being the 27th seed. We want to go out to Oregon and enjoy it. This will be a great experience for our young team and hopefully we’ll play well.”

THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
The top-10 teams in each of three regionals, as well the top two individuals not on those teams, advanced to the Championship. In the West Regional, played in Tucson, Ariz., at OMNI Tucson National, Arizona and Florida tied for the team title. Arizona State, Washington, NC State, BYU, Loyola Marymount, East Tennessee State, Pepperdine and Nevada all made it through as well.

Wake Forest captured the team title at the East Regional at Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The Demon Deacons were joined by Georgia, Texas Tech, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Charlotte, UCLA, Auburn, South Carolina and UNLV.

In the Central Regional, played in Cleveland, Ohio, at Sand Ridge Golf Club, Oklahoma State finished first and was followed by Northwestern, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Lamar, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Clemson, Duke and Kentucky to round out the top 10.

Five of the SEC teams that received a bid to NCAA Regionals also advanced on to the Championship, including: Florida, Georgia, Auburn, South Carolina and Kentucky. The SEC is tied with the ACC for the most representatives in the NCAA Championship field.

MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Senior Eirik Johansen’s high level of play during his South Carolina career has led him to accomplish an impressive feat. The Stavanger, Norway, native has competed in all 49 tournaments the Gamecocks have entered during his career entering this weekend’s East Regional. He boasts 20 top-10 finishes and has placed in the top-20 in 28 career events. In 2005-06, Johansen has been Carolin’s top finisher or shared top honors eight times this season. Johansen’s experience is especially important to a young Gamecock lineup.

GAMECOCKS IN THE RANKINGS
South Carolina is receiving votes in the latest GCAA Bridgestone Coaches Poll (April 27) and ranks No. 41 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings (May 21). Senior captain Eirik Johansen is No. 45 and freshman Florian Fritsch is No. 82, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Individual Ratings.

JOHANSEN MAKES ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
Senior Eirik Johansen (Stavanger, Norway) has been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III At-Large Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Thursday. Johansen was one of 20 student-athletes honored and appears on the second team. Student-athletes with a minimum 3.2 grade point average from the following men’s sports are eligible for nomination to the At-Large team: golf, tennis, volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, fencing and lacrosse. District III includes the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. He is a sport and entertainment management major at USC

EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
For the third straight semester, the South Carolina men’s golf team posted the highest team grade point average of any men’s team in the athletic department with a 3.352 for the Spring, 2006 semester. Freshmen Mark Silvers (Savannah, Ga.) and Baker Elmore (Cheraw, S.C.) achieved the 4.0 GPA required for the President’s List. Junior David Kite (Austin, Texas), sophomore Mark Anderson (Beaufort, S.C.), sophomore Warren Thomas (Columbia, S.C.) and Allen Koon (Bamberg, S.C.) made the Dean’s List, which demands a 3.25 or better GPA for freshmen and a 3.5 or better GPA for sophomores, juniors or seniors. Members of the golf team collected 13 President’s or Dean’s List honors during the 2005-06 school year.

HOMEGROWN GAMECOCKS
USC’S 10-man roster features five players from the state of South Carolina. That group includes sophomore Mark Anderson (Beaufort/Beaufort Academy) and Warren Thomas (Columbia/Richland Northeast), redshirt freshman Patrick Cunning (Aiken/South Aiken) and freshmen Baker Elmore (Cheraw) and Allen Koon (Bamberg/Bamberg-Ehrhardt).