Men's Golf Southern Conference

Georgia Southern's Price Fires 66 At U.S. Open Local Qualifying Event

GRIFFIN, Ga. - Georgia Southern junior Aron Price fired a 66 to top all competitors at a U.S. Open Local Qualifying event at the Griffin Country Club Monday afternoon.

The 22-year-old Australia native recorded birdies at one, two and three but bogeyed four to shoot a 32 on the front nine. He bounced back to put up birdies at eleven and fourteen to close out the day with a 66. Price was competing in his first United States Golf Association Qualifying event.

Price will advance to Sectional Qualifying, which will consist of 36 holes of stroke play. GSGA will conduct a Sectional Qualifying round on June 8 at Ansley Golf Club's Settindown Creek in Roswell, with the qualifying players advancing to the U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., June 17-20.

Price currently leads the Southern Conference and Georgia Southern with a 71.4 stroke average through 11 collegiate tournaments and 32 rounds this season. He has posted seven top 20 finishes in 2003-2004, six in the top 10 and five in the top five and was one of just 33 golfers nationally who earned inclusion on the 2004 Hogan Award Watch List - an honor presented annually to the top men's collegiate golfer on all levels NCAA I, II or III and NAIA).

He earned Southern Conference Golfer-of-the-Year honors in April and was chosen to the all-conference and all-tourney squads. During the fall, Price averaged 69.8 shots per round in five events (14 rounds), captured three individual titles and earned a No. 1 national ranking in Golfweek's first poll of the season on Sept. 23.

After earning medalist honors at the 101st Western Amateur Open, Price fired a course-record 65 in the first round on his way to winning the Cleveland Golf/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate (65-70=135/-9) before also capturing the individual titles at the Pacific Invitational
(71-66-67=204/-12) in Stockton, Calif., and Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions (69-66-68=203/-13, a college career-best) in Knoxville, Tenn.


Price and the Georgia Southern golf program recently earned their fourth consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament selection, which begins Thursday with play at the NCAA East Regional, which will be held at The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn.

U.S. Open Local Qualifying
Griffin Country Club
May 17, 2004
Final Results - Qualifiers:
a-Aron Price, Statesboro, Ga., 66
a-Chan Wongluekiet, Atlanta, Ga., 67
a-Douglas Fiese, Atlanta, Ga., 68
Stan Gann, Jr., Kathleen, Ga., 69
Mike Grob, Billings, Mont., 69
a-Steve Johnson, Signal Mountain, Tenn., 69
Bill Mc Donald, Marietta, Ga., 69