Nov. 2, 2008

COLUMBIA – South Carolina’s men’s golf team will look to finish its 2008 fall season on a high note as the Gamecocks compete in the Rees Jones Intercollegiate, which runs Monday and Tuesday at Haig Point on Daufuskie Island.

The Gamecocks, ranked 22nd in the latest GolfStat head-to-head ratings, wish to improve on their 16th-place finish at the Isleworth-UCF Invitational last week in Windermere, Fla., in which they faced an extremely strong field and very difficult course conditions.

South Carolina will send out four of the same five that have competed in the last two tournaments with George Bryan IV, Wesley Bryan, Mark Silvers III and Patrick Rada getting the starting nods. Paul Woodbury, who competed in the season-opening Carpet Capital Collegiate, will occupy the fifth spot in the Gamecocks’ lineup.

Silvers leads the Gamecocks through three tournaments with a 73.33 stroke average. He captured a fourth-place finish at the Mason Rudolph Invitational and a 13th-place tie at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in early September, but looks to rebound from a tough outing at Isleworth.

Junior George Bryan IV continues to be a solid option for Carolina with a 73.44 stroke average through nine competitive rounds this season. His best finish was a seventh-place effort at the Mason Rudolph Invitational, which South Carolina won in late September. He was the Gamecocks’ most consistent player at Isleworth, shooting three consecutive rounds of 75 to post a 26th-place finish.

Wesley Bryan, a freshman and George’s younger brother, posted the most dramatic one-day improvement of the season in the second round at Nashville with a second-round 69 to follow up an opening-day 79, rallying to a 23rd-place finish. He took home a 41st-place finish from Isleworth but had the best single round on the team with his first-round 73.

Rada, who sat out the season’s first tournament, was one of two Gamecocks to finish under par at the Mason Rudolph, carding a 1-under 212 to tie for ninth place in Carolina’s tournament win. He started strong at Isleworth with a 74, but struggled the last two days and looks to regain momentum this weekend at Haig Point.

Woodbury, a junior from Lake City, improved by five shots from his second round to his third at the season-opening Carpet Capital Collegiate, but has not competed since. He will look to help Carolina claim its second tournament title in four events this week.

A small field of only 12 teams awaits the Gamecocks as tournament play commences Monday with 36 holes of play. South Carolina will face an eclectic mix of teams that includes Eastern Michigan, Georgia State, Idaho, Jackson State, Methodist, Michigan State, San Diego State, USC Beaufort, Tennessee State, Troy and Tulsa. The par-72 layout at the Rees Jones Signature Course at Haig Point plays to 7,380 yards.

A shotgun start is set for 8 a.m. with the Gamecocks paired with Jackson State and Tulsa, teeing off on holes 10-13. The second round will follow immediately at the conclusion of the first with a shotgun start tentatively slated for 12:45 p.m. Live scoring will be available through golfstat.com.