Oct. 5, 2007

COLUMBIA – The inaugural Brickyard Collegiate Golf Championship tees off Sun., Oct. 7, with South Carolina one of six programs in the 13-team field that played in the 2007 NCAA Regionals. Hosted by Mercer University, the three-day, 54-hole event will be played at The Brickyard at Riverside in Macon, Ga., which Golf Digest rated as the 12th-best course in the state of Georgia. Sophomore George Bryan IV leads the 22nd-ranked Gamecocks, along with senior Mark Anderson and juniors Patrick Cunning, Allen Koon and Mark Silvers.

“We’re looking forward to playing in the inaugural Brickyard Collegiate,” South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald said. “The field will be excellent, and I know that our team is determined to continue its great play.”

Currently ranked fourth in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, Bryan has a 70.67 average after finishing tied for third in the Carpet Capital Collegiate to open the 2007-08 campaign. Koon is two strokes off Bryan’s pace at 72.67 and ranks 30th in the Index. He finished 18th in the team’s only tournament this season.

Cunning’s 73.67 average comes from a solid outing at the Carpet Capital, where he finished 28th at five-over. Silvers bounced back from a first-round 80 in the season opener to shoot 72 and 71 in the second and third rounds, respectively, pushing his average to 74.33. Anderson will make his season debut on Sunday. The senior played in four tournaments last season, including the NCAA West Regional and NCAA Championship, with a 72.46 average.

Joining the 2007 NCAA West Region champion Gamecocks are five other teams in last year’s NCAA field – No. 3 Georgia, East Region champ and national runner-up; #10 Clemson, East Region runner-up; #12 Georgia Tech, which finished eighth in the NCAA Championship; Hartford and Eastern Michigan. Also in the field are Akron, Furman, Gonzaga, Kennesaw State, host Mercer, Middle Tennessee and Troy.