Oct. 7, 2008

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Samford University men's golf team completed its third fall tournament of the 2008 season on Tuesday and finished 13th at the 2008 Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate. The two-day event was held at the Greg Norman-designed Savannah Quarters Country Club.

"This wasn't exactly our best week, but I think we were able to take some positives from it," said Samford head coach Woodie Eubanks. "We have a very young team and I am optimistic that good things will still happen for us this year. We have a lot of talent on this team, but we just need to do a better job of utilizing it."

Samford concluded the competition with a final team score of 933. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs carded a third-round mark of 311, their second best score of the tournament. In Monday's opening round, Samford turned in its lowest scorecard of the competition by shooting a 308.

Ian Cutting, the Bulldogs' senior from Fayetteville, Ga., finished the Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate in a tie for 27th place. Cutting paced Samford with a three-round score of 226 (77-77-72) and fired a team-low mark of 72 on Tuesday.

Sophomore Martin Bunt turned in Samford's second best score of the tournament at 233 (74-83-76), while Jeremy Cox finished third with a three-day total of 239 (78-77-84). The Bulldogs' Andrew Villarreal (81-79-81--242) and Houston Hough (79-81-82--242) rounded out the team's top five.

Georgia Southern, the host team of the 2008 Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate, carded a 295 on Tuesday to barely hold off Southern Conference-rival Furman for a one-stroke victory.

Georgia Southern finished the two-day event with a final team score of 865, while Furman placed second at 866. Georgia Southern's Logan Blondell and Furman's Anthony Aloi both finished tied for first in the individual competition at 212.

Blondell eventually won the tournament title in a playoff.

The Samford University men's golf team will next be in action Sunday as the Bulldogs begin play in the 2008 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate. The prestigious three-day event will be held at the Old Overton Club in Birmingham, Ala., and will officially be hosted by the University of Alabama.