TicketsApril 21, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati men's golf team will try to repeat its successful final round run of a year ago when the Bearcats compete in the 2007 BIG EAST Championship, April 22-24. The event will be held at the Cardinal Club in Louisville, Ky. After being seeded 11th prior to last year's tournament, UC darted to a tie for fifth with a season-best round of 284. The Bearcats are seeded ninth this season.
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT: The 2007 BIG EAST Championship will pit all 12 of the league's golf-playing schools in 54 holes over three days at the Cardinal Club in Louisville, Ky. Louisville and Notre Dame tied for the lead after three rounds last year, with the Irish winning in a play-off to capture the title. The Cardinals and Irish, ranked 18th and 63rd nationally by Golfweek, respectively are the 1-2 seeds for this year's event. The balance of the seeded field with Golfweek rankings includes Marquette (99), USF (108), St. John's (123), Georgetown (165), DePaul (159), Seton Hall (190), Cincinnati (217), Villanova (223), Connecticut (206) and Rutgers (248). Each of the three days of the tournament will consist of 18 holes with the team's being reseeded after each round. Full, live coverage of the event, updated every nine holes, will be provided by Golfstat.com.
THE LINE-UP: A mix of experience and youth will fill coach Doug Martin's line-up card for the 2007 BIG EAST Championship. At the top is senior Geoff Newman along with fellow senior Joe Young at the No. 3 spot. Sophomore Albert Fernandez will fill the number two-hole, with sophomore Blake Tucker and junior Alex Wenzel also slated to compete.
LAST YEAR'S BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: Geoff Newman became Cincinnati's first All-BIG EAST golfer as he matched his career-best with a round of 69 in the tournament's final round. He climbed to a tie for third in the final run down, helping a surprising Bearcat squad finish tied for fifth overall. Newman improved by seven positions in the final round, finishing at 211. The Bearcats became the biggest surprise of the tournament after being seeded 11th prior to the event. Cincinnati put together a season-best round of 284 to jump to a tie for fifth in the final order. Aiding in the Bearcats' impressive final round was freshman Paul Marshall who shot a 69, three shots under his personal-best to end the championship tied for 20th. Senior John Clodfelder shook off a rough opening two rounds to shoot a 72 in the finale.
LEADING THE WAY: The unquestioned leader and top player for the Bearcats this season has been senior Geoff Newman. In 12 tournaments, Newman has finished in the top-20 seven times, with a pair of top-five tallies to his credit. The Cincinnati native holds a team-best 74.9 average. In the last few weeks, classmate Joe Young has stepped up, winning the LaRosa's Collegiate Cup on the strength of rounds of 68 and 69. Young followed it up with top-20 finishes in two of thee next three tournaments.