March 19, 2008

DIABLO, Calif. --- The Samford men's golf team grabbed its highest finish at the Drake Diablo Grande Intercollegiate Tuesday as it finished fourth out of a field of 11 teams. The Bulldogs shot a team tournament total of 932 to finish just nine shots out of the top three.

After facing rough winds in the first round, the Samford men improved extremely in the second round, shooting 38 strokes better. The Bulldogs then shot 306 in the third round, just four strokes behind the leader, Loyola College.

Fellow Ohio Valley Conference competitor Austin Peay was the tournament runner-up while Cal State-Stanislaus came in third. North Dakota took fifth followed by Southern Illinois at sixth and Columbia (7th), Jackson State (8th), Drake (9th), Cal State-San Marcos (10th) and Dartmouth (11th) rounding out the field of teams.

Leading the Bulldogs individually was freshman Tyler Baird. Baird finished in a tie for 11th place, the highest finish for the Knoxville, Tenn., native since the year began. The freshman shot a second round total of 72, which was a team tournament low and personal low for Baird. John Turnipseed and Ian Cutting joined Baird in the top 20 as well. Turnipseed tied for 13th place, shooting 232 in the tournament while Cutting tied at 17th place, shooting 234. Martin Bunt tied for 38th place with a score of 244 while Houston Hough followed four strokes behind in a tie for 49th place.

The Bulldogs will be back in action next weekend as they get a look at future Southern Conference competition in the Furman Invitational. The two-day event will be held at the Furman Country Club in Greenville, S.C., Friday and Saturday, March 28-29.

4 Samford University 332-294-306 = 932
T 11 Tyler Baird 82-72-76 = 230
T 13 John Turnipseed 84-76-72 = 232
T 17 Ian Cutting 84-73-77 = 234
T 38 Martin Bunt 82-77-85 = 244
T 49 Houston Hough 94-73-81 = 248