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Oct. 10, 2006

BANK OF TENNESSEE INTERCOLLEGIATE
Oct. 14-15 • Jonesborough, Tenn.
The Ridges Golf & Country Club
Par 72 – 7,147 Yards

The University of South Carolina men’s golf team will compete in its second event of the season, the ninth annual Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, Oct. 14-15, in Jonesborough, Tenn. The tournament will be played at The Ridges Golf and Country Club. Following a practice round on Oct. 13, the tournament opens with 36 holes on Saturday and concludes on Sunday with the final 18 holes. South Carolina captured the team title last season at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate.

THE LINEUP
Junior Warren Thomas, sophomores Allen Koon and Mark Silvers and true freshmen Paul Woodbury and George Bryan IV will represent South Carolina in the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate. Koon, Thomas and Bryan also competed in the Gamecocks’ season-opening tournament, the Carpet Capital Collegiate, Sept. 15-17. Woodbury will make his collegiate debut this weekend.

COACH’S CORNER
Head coach Puggy Blackmon on this weekend’s Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate:

“The fact is that once again we will compete with a very young and inexperienced lineup. Freshman George Bryan IV will be seeing his second competition and newcomer Paul Woodbury will be making his collegiate debut.

“Thus far, I’ve been extremely impressed by our three in-state newcomers. They have not been intimidated the least bit or been distracted during the first couple months of qualifying. At this point, I feel that we are quickly approaching a point where we will be competitive. Unfortunately, two of our more experienced and talented players in former All-American Mark Anderson and All-SEC performer Florian Fritsch did not play well in qualifying and will not be competing this weekend.”

“Returnees Allen Koon and Warren Thomas have continued to be impressive during the early going. Sophomore Mark Silvers has played consistently well in this qualifying and has shown great improvement over last year.”

“I think this week’s lineup is a strong indicator that we will have great depth and will be highly competitive as the year progresses. There’s no way to predict how well our young guys will perform this weekend. The field is very strong and the golf course demanding. It will be exciting to see how the young guys handle the competition.”

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.

THE FIELD
In addition to the host team East Tennessee State, South Carolina will be joined by Alabama, Tennessee, TCU, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Pepperdine, Kentucky, NC State, Auburn, Kent State, UAB, Virginia Tech and Virginia. The field features six top-25 teams and 11 ranked the nation’s top 50, according to Golfweek. Six individual golfers competint this weekend are ranked in the top 50 as well.

GAMECOCKS WIN 2005 BANK OF TENNESSEE TITLE
South Carolina captured the team title at The 2005 Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate. Carolina had a pair of top-five individuals in freshman Florian Fritsch (Wiesloch, Germany) and senior Eirik Johansen (Stavanger, Norway). Sophomore Mark Anderson (Beaufort, S.C.) turned in a 12th-place finish. The win marked the Gamecocks’ first team championship since March 16, 2004, at The Palmetto Intercollegiate. Carolina shot 289 in the final round to finish with a team score of 859. The Gamecocks were five-under par and eight strokes ahead of second-place Auburn. Fritsch, who was playing in his first collegiate event, finished second on the individual leaderboard. All three of his rounds were under par, including a final round 69. Fritsch was eight-under for the tournament and just three strokes behind medalist Rhys Davies of East Tennessee State, the tournament’s host. Johansen, the only upperclassman in USC’s lineup, placed fourth. He shot a one-over par 73 in the final round and finished three-under for the tournament. Anderson fired a final round 73 and placed tied for 12th. He was two-over par in the event and notched his fourth top-15 finish at South Carolina. Freshman Baker Elmore (Cheraw, S.C.) carded a 74 in the final round and finished in a tie for 43rd with teammate Patrick Cunning (Aiken, S.C.). Cunning shot 76 on the tournament’s final 18 holes.

Finish, Name, Rounds2, Florian Fristch, 71-68-69=2084, Eirik Johansen, 69-71-73=213T12, Mark Anderson, 72-73-73=218T43, Patrick Cunning, 74-75-76=225T43, Baker Elmore, 79-72-74=225

LAST TIME OUT ON THE LINKS
In its first event of the season, South Carolina had a tough time overcoming a rough start and finished 17th against a stout 18-team field at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, played at The Farm Golf Club (7,002 yards — Par 72) in Rocky Face, Ga., Sept 15-17. The Gamecocks fired rounds of 309-290-287=886 and sophomore Florian Fritsch led Carolina with a 32nd-place finish individually. Fritsch carded the best round of any USC player during the tournament with a final round 69 (-3). He completed the tournament with a total score of 77=71-69=217. True freshman George Bryan IV was the Gamecocks’ second finisher, placing in a tie for 59th. Bryan was two-under par (70) Sunday and 78-75-70=223 for the tournament. Sophomore Allen Koon finished two spots and one stroke behind Bryan, tying for 61st individually. Koon recorded a final round 74 and wrapped up the event with a total score of 77-73-74=224. True freshman Patrick Rada was tied for 71st on the final invidual leader board after shooting a 76 on the final 18 holes. Rada finished the tournament with a total score of 79-71-76=226. Junior Warren Thomas fired a 74 in the final round and placed in a tie for 79th with a three-round total of 77-77-74-228.

Finish, Name, RoundsT32, Florian Fritsch, 77-71-69=217T59, George Bryan IV, 78-75-70=223T61, Allen Koon, 77-73-74=224T71, Patrick Rada, 79-71-76=226T79, Warren Thomas, 77-77-74=228Team Total: 309-290-287=886

HOMEGROWN GAMECOCKS
USC’S 12-man roster features eight players from the state of South Carolina. That group includes sophomore Mark Anderson (Beaufort/Beaufort Academy) and Warren Thomas (Columbia/Richland Northeast), redshirt sophomore Patrick Cunning (Aiken/South Aiken) and sophomores Baker Elmore (Cheraw) and Allen Koon (Bamberg/Bamberg-Ehrhardt) and true freshmen George Bryan IV (Chapin/Dutch Fork), Patrick Rada (Anderson/T.L. Hanna) and Paul Woodbury (Lake City).

EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
The golf team achieved the highest grade point average of any men’s team in the athletic department for the third consecutive semester by posting a 3.352 mark for the Spring 2006 semester. Two golfers made the President’s List and four earned a spot on the Dean’s List. 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.