Contact: Stan Cole

A-Sun Championships A Springboard to Golfing Success for Many

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Hal Sutton, Colin Montgomerie, Moira Dunn, Liz Earley.

Yes, these are all highly successful golfers who have gone on to perform on the highest level of the PGA and LPGA tours.

And, if you did not know it, they all were Atlantic Sun Conference individual champions.

The next Sutton, Montgomerie, Dunn or Earley just might be playing at Keith Hills Country Club next week when Campbell hosts the Atlantic Sun Conference Men's and Women's Golf Championships, Apr. 19-21.

Sutton was the 1979 and 1980 conference champion while at Centenary College before moving on to the PGA Tour, where he has won 14 times and was the 1983 tour player of the year.

Montgomerie won the A-Sun (then the Trans America Athletic Conference) title in 1985 while at Houston Baptist University. "Monty" has since won 27 international events and finished atop the European Order of Merit a record seven-straight years.

Liz Earley won the first A-Sun women's title in 1990 while at UCF before joining the LPGA tour. Dunn claimed the league championship three times from 1991-93 for Florida International before embarking on her LPGA career.

More recently, Josh Broadaway of Troy State, who won the 1999 men's championship at Keith Hills and the 2000 title as well, played the last two years on the Nationwide Tour, one step below the top flight.

On the women's side, Campbell's Mara Larrauri – who won back-to-back A-Sun titles in '97 and '98 – has been joined on the FUTURES Tour by fellow CU alums Kylie Pratt and Sharon O'Neill, who won A-Sun individual honors in '99 and 2000, respectively. Angie Green, the 2001 winner from Jacksonville State, and Jessica Polus-Strelec of Florida Atlantic, the 2002 champion, also compete on the FUTURES circuit, which is the official developmental tour of the LPGA.

So, who are the favorites to win the 2004 event at Keith Hills and possibly move on to the professional ranks?

On the men's side, defending champion Stefan Wistorf of UCF, the 2003 A-Sun Freshman of the Year, ranks 10th among A-Sun golfers in the latest Golfstat score vs. par ratings. Seniors Kasper Jorgensen and Jonathan Fricke of Georgia State were top-10 finishers in last year's event at Indigo Lakes in Daytona Beach.

This year, Jorgensen stands first in the A-Sun men's rankings, while Fricke is fourth. Senior Barry Roof of UCF rates second in score vs. par among league players.

Five Campbell golfers – including four seniors – rate among the A-Sun's top 20 individuals, according to Golfstat. Seniors Ulf Hedlund (3rd), Rickard Allard (6th), Braxton Wynns (13th) and James Huffam (19th) are closely followed by sophomore Kyle Spahr (20th) in the listing.

The defending women's A-Sun champion – sophomore Lisbeth Meincke of Georgia State – trails only senior Natalia Navarro of Florida Atlantic among league members in the Golfstat score vs. par ratings. Navarro has finished among the top six individuals at the A-Sun event in each of her first three years, including a third-place showing in 2002.

Three Campbell golfers also rate among the A-Sun's top six scorers in sophomore Sofia Gorelik (3rd) and seniors Josefina Usandizaga (4th) and Brandi Underwood (6th). Gorelik, who finished second among A-Sun golfers in stroke average in 2003 and was a first-team all-conference as well as an all-freshman team selection, has four top-five finishes in her last six tournaments.

Usandizaga, a three-time A-Sun all-conference performer, who finished in the top-five in both the 2001 and 2002 A-Sun tournaments, is coming off her best showing of the year, a third-place performance last week at the Southern Miss Lady Eagle Invitational.

Underwood is enjoying her best collegiate campaign as a senior, including a career-best third-place showing at last month's UNC Wilmington Lady Seahawk Invitational at River Landing.

The team champion of both the Atlantic Sun men's and women's tournaments, will earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Regional tournament.

On the men's side, Campbell (55th nationally), UCF (67th) and Georgia State (68th) lead the pack, while the women are topped by Campbell (58th) and Florida Atlantic (107th), according to Golfstat.

Tee times begin at 8:00 a.m. each day, Mon.-Wed., Apr. 19-21. The men will compete on Keith Hills No. 2, while the women will play the Keith Hills No. 1 layout.