Men's Golf Southern Conference

Southern Conference Well Represented at NCAA Golf Championships

ASHEVILLE, NC -- Three teams and one individual will represent the Southern Conference at the 2001 NCAA Men's Golf Championship May 30-June 2 in Durham, NC. East Tennessee State, College of Charleston and Georgia Southern will compete for the team title while Furman s Kirk Satterfield will compete as an individual.

East Tennessee State, currently ranked 15th in the Mastercard Collegiate Golf Rankings, enters the championship as the top seed after winning the East Regional at Williamsburg, VA. Senior All-American Chris Wisler led the squad, shooting 12-under par and finishing third. Sophomores Adam Riddering and Thomas Lee also finished in the top 10, placing tied for sixth and tied for tenth respectively. Wisler and Lee rank fifth and 73rd in the most recent Mastercard individual rankings. ETSU will compete in its eighth consecutive NCAA Championship and 14th in program history.

Twenty-fourth seeded Georgia Southern, which currently ranks 45th nationally, appears in its 13th NCAA Championship as a team and first since 1988. GSU finished eighth at the East Regional, led by Tyler McKeever who shot five-under par, including a career-low round 67 on the final day. Senior Christian Newton was the only Eagle to shoot par or better each day and carded a 213 (-3) at the regional. Junior Justin Kolumber is currently ranked 94th among the top college golfers after shooting two-under par in Williamsburg.

Thirteenth-seeded College of Charleston goes to Durham for its first NCAA Championship in program history. The Cougars finished fourth at the Central Regional, led by Jedd McLuen who finished tied for seventh. CofC's only other representation in the NCAA field was in last year s East Regional where McLuen competed as an individual. McLuen is currently ranked 62nd in the Mastercard rankings.

Furman s Kirk Satterfield will compete as an individual at the championships. The junior from Bluefield, WV, is the first Furman individual NCAA Qualifier since 1989 when Todd White advanced to the NCAA's. He fired a career-low 65 (7-under) in the third and final round of the East Regional and placed fifth overall.