April 3, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
IRVING, Texas - Just three C-USA Men's Golf teams were in action last week as SMU led the way with a second place finish at the Diet Pepsi Shocker Classic. Both East Carolina and Marshall competed at the Furman Intercollegiate, with the Pirates taking 12th place and the Herd finishing in a tie for 22nd.
SMU's Kelly Kraft was named the Conference USA Men's Golfer of the Week after finishing second at the Diet Pepsi Shocker Classic. The freshman fired a 3-under 210 and continued his strong freshman run, carding rounds of 69, 69 and 72. The weekly honor is the second of Kraft's young career, as he also won back on Mar. 12.
MEN'S GOLFER OF THE WEEK
KELLY KRAFT - SMU
Fr., Denton, Texas (Ryan)
Kraft continued his strong freshman run, finishing second at 3-under 210 at the 2008 Diet Pepsi Shocker Golf Classic at the par-71 Wichita Country Club. Kraft carded rounds of 69, 69 and 72. As a team, SMU finished second to host Wichita State. The weekly honor is the second of Kraft's young career (Mar. 12).
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES
ANDRE THORSEN - East Carolina
Thorsen finished tied for 16th at the Furman Intercollegiate with a six-over 222. He shot one-under in the first round. It was his fourth Top 20 finish in seven tournaments this season and he was ECU's top finisher for the second time in the last three events.
GOLFWEEK TOP 100 RANKINGS
20. UCF
25. UAB
41. SMU
59. Memphis
78. Southern Miss
80. East Carolina
EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina carded a three round team total of 37-over-par 901 (300-294-207) to finish 12th at the 39th annual Furman Intercollegiate held at the par 72, 6,800-yard Furman University Golf Course last weekend... ECU junior Andre Thorsen finished tied for 16th with six-over-par 222 (71-74-77)... Sophomore Tanner Briele finished one stroke behind his teammate tied for 20th (77-71-75=223)... Tripp Brizendine fired an 11-over-par 227 (74-74-79=227) to finish tied for 48th... The Pirates return to the course April 4-6 as they host the Ironwood Pirate Intercollegiate.
HOUSTON
Houston saved the best for last as the Cougars used a strong final round to surge four spots up the leaderboad to claim sixth-place in the Tucson National Invitational Tournament at the Omni Tucson National Golf Club March 25... Junior transfer Ben Moser carded three solid rounds en route to earning co-champion honors, along with Tulsa's Nicolas Geyger and David Markle of Kent State... Moser ended the tournament at 8-under-par (71-68-69) and notched his first collegiate victory... For his efforts he shared C-USA Golfer of the Week honors with Geyger on March 26... As a team, the Cougars shot the second-lowest round on the last day, a 286... Coming off back-to-back top-10 performances, the Cougars travel to Augusta, Ga. to square off against Augusta State in a head-to-head contest played at the Champions Retreat Golf Course, April 4-6.
MARSHALL
Junior Nathan Kinker fired a par 72 in the final round of the Furman Intercollegiate on Sunday, the best single round for Marshall at the event, but the Thundering Herd finished in a tie for 22nd place... The tournament, played at the 6,800-yard Furman University Golf Course... After the Herd's struggles in day one with a team score of 320, Marshall shaved strokes to finish the last two rounds with a 308 on Saturday and Sunday's score of 304 for a total of 932... The Herd tied Winthrop for 22nd place in the 24-team field... Kinker's 72 is his lowest single-round score of the spring season and best since his 71 in the second round of the Xavier Invitational in October... The Barboursville, W.Va., native finished the tournament in a tie for 73rd place (230) along with teammate Christian Brand... The Herd will play host to a 17-team field at the 39th annual Marshall Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Guyan Golf and Country Club.
MEMPHIS
Memphis finished third in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate hosted by South Alabama March 25... The Tigers posted a team total of 879 during the 54-hole event... Five Tigers finished in the top-25 individually led by sophomore Brandon Bunn... Bunn (74-74-71) shot a one-under-par 71 in the final round and finished in a tie for fifth place... Senior Ian Rochester (75-78-68) fired a tournament low round of 68 in round three, propelling him into a tie for 10th... Seniors Robbie Greenwell (74-76-73) and Kyle Ritchie (74-73-78) tied for 12th and 18th respectively... Junior Brad Benjamin (80-75-72) tied for 24th in the field... Memphis will return to action April 7-8 when they compete in the Bank of America Intercollegiate in Madison, Miss.
RICE
Rice closed out play with a 313 team round to finish in a tie for 11th March 25 at the Carter Plantation Intercollegiate... The Owls shot a 943 at the Southeastern Louisiana-hosted tournament.... Rice was led by Christopher Brown who shot a 76 Tuesday to card a three-round score of 236 and finish in a tie for 36th... Rice had three other players tie for 44th with scores of 238 - Kyle Kelley, Addison Awe and Michael Whitehead... Rice returns to action April 11-13 when the Owls travel to the Wolfpack Invitational in Wallace, N.C.
SMU
SMU's Kelly Kraft was named the Conference USA Men's Golfer of the Week after finishing second at the Diet Pepsi Shocker Classic at the Wichita Country Club in Wichita, Kan... The freshman fired a 3-under 210 and led his team to a second-place finish behind host Wichita State... Kraft continued his strong freshman run, carding rounds of 69, 69 and 72... The weekly honor is the second of Kraft's young career, as he also won back on Mar. 12... Dan Kleckner's 1-over 214 was good for fifth, while Ben Tewes also claimed a top-20 finish, tying for 15th at 218... Up next for Kraft and the Mustangs is the Robert Kepler Invitational, Apr. 12-13, in Columbus, Ohio.
SOUTHERN MISS
Senior Kyle Ramey and sophomore Wes Carter tied for sixth and ninth place, respectively, and Southern Miss posted a team score of 900 to finish in third at the Jacksonville State hosted Grub Mart-Young Oil Intercollegiate, played at the Silver Lakes Golf Course in Gadsden, Ala Mar. 17-18... Ramey finished with a final round 73 for a three-round total of 223, while Carter shot a 69 to finish one shot back at 224... Sophomore Paul Apyan shot a final round of 75 for a three-round total of 227... Southern Miss will now travel to Mobile, Ala. for the South Alabama hosted Mobile Bay Intercollegiate, March 24-25.
TULSA
Tulsa's Nicolas Geyger tied for first-place at the National Invitational Tournament on March 25... Geyger carded a final round 71 and finished with an eight-under par 208... The Tulsa junior tied with Houston's Ben Moser and Kent State's David Markle... For his efforts he shared C-USA Golfer of the Week honors with Moser on March 26... The Hurricane finished in a 10th place tie with a final round 289 for an 883 total on the par-72 Omni Tucson National Golf Course... The Golden Hurricane returns to the links Apr. 7-8 at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, Texas.
No. 25 UAB
Senior Brad Smith finished tied for sixth overall to lead No. 25 UAB to a fifth-place finish at the 29th annual Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational March 14-16... The Blazers finished tied with tournament host Georgia Southern (301-288-281), each closing with a six-over par 870... The Blazers were among eight teams ranked in the top-25 and 12 ranked among the top-50 in the nation in the latest national poll who competed at the three-day, 54-hole event... Smith entered Sunday's third and final round in a six-way tie for the overall lead... However, after recording a five-under par 139 through the opening two rounds, the Hawthorn, Australia native recorded a one-over par 73 during the last day and finished with a four-under 212... The Blazers will have nearly a month off before they compete next at the Nissan Intercollegiate on April 7-8 in Jackson, Miss.
No. 20 UCF
Junior Greg Forest finished seventh in the individual standings as UCF concluded play at the Hootie at Bulls Bay on March 25 at the Bulls Bay Golf Club... The 19th-ranked Knights finished eighth at the 15-team tournament, which featured 11 of the top-50 squads in the nation... The Knights posted a three-round total of 866 (+14)... The team finished one stroke behind 13th-ranked Auburn... Forest tied for seventh (211, -2). In the final round, he carded a two-under 69... The Knights' next tournament is slated for April 7-8... The team will head to Austin, Texas, to compete at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate.
UTEP
Josh Taylor fired an 11-over-par 227 (76-74-77) to lead the UTEP men's golf team on the final day of the National Invitational Tournament March 25 in Tucson, Ariz... Taylor tied for 58th place for the Miners, who finished 15th at the tournament with a tally of 921 (311-305-305)... UTEP's Roger Sloan tied for 63rd place (74-81-73-228)... Zac Hildenbrand tied for 67th place (81-73-76-230)... The Miners will next play at the Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz. Apr. 7-8.
