UNC Charlotte Ranked #4

NCAA Men's: Division I Teams

Division II - Division III

                                   Adjusted   Avg.            
                        Division   Scoring   Drop   Versus#  
   Team                  *Record   Average  Score   Top 25    Wins@
  1 Alabama, U. of        289-  0    71.32   76.99    23- 0      5
 2 Georgia, U. of        288-  1    71.35   76.45    19- 1      2
 3 UCLA                  287-  2    72.24   76.57    13- 2      2
 4 Charlotte             286-  3    71.34   75.37    16- 3      4
 5 Southern California   285-  4    72.64   76.80    15- 4      1
 6 Oklahoma State U.     281-  8    72.64   76.72    13- 6      1
 7 Georgia Tech          281-  8    72.09   77.98    11- 8      0
 8 Florida, U. of        280-  9    72.67   77.65    14- 9      1
 9 Stanford University   280-  9    72.41   76.88     8- 8      1
10 Tennessee, Univ. of   279- 10    72.25   77.01    12-10      2
11 Duke University       278- 11    72.70   76.99    11- 9      1
12 Florida State Univ.   277- 12    73.16   76.94    10-11      2
13 Auburn University     275- 14    71.88   76.17    10- 8      1
14 Wake Forest Univ.     275- 14    72.69   77.66     9-11      1
15 South Carolina        275- 14    72.61   77.51     9-12      1
16 Clemson University    271- 18    72.77   77.51     3-14      0
17 Mississippi, U. of    269- 20    72.50   78.53     4-10      4
18 UCF                   269- 20    73.04   78.55     5-18      1
19 Tenn.-Chattanooga     269- 20    71.92   76.40     2-13      2
20 UNLV                  269- 20    71.71   75.96     3-13      2
21 Indiana University    268- 21    73.39   77.62     4-13      1
22 UAB                   266- 23    72.69   77.87     6-11      1
23 Texas Tech Univ.      266- 23    72.69   77.31     3-15      3
24 Louisville, U. of     265- 24    72.92   77.42     6-10      1
25 Michigan State U.     264- 25    73.64   77.60     3-13      1 

Whitaker Earns Sponsor's Exemption For Winning UCF Challenge

ORLANDO, FLA. – Alison Whitaker of Duke has earned a sponsor’s exemption to the Ginn Tribute hosted by ANNIKA by winning the University of Central Florida (UCF) Challenge at RedTail Golf Club in Sorrento, Fla.

Whitaker, the Blue Devils’ sophomore from Melbourne, Australia, shot a score of 65-71-72=208 (-8) to win by two shots. She led wire-to-wire in route to her career-best finish and her first collegiate win.

“It is just so exciting to get the sponsor’s exemption,” said Whitaker. “I haven’t played in an LPGA event before and after playing in the NCAA Championships the week before it will be great preparation. I think two weeks back-to-back of high quality golf is more than I could ask for in terms of finishing off a semester at Duke. I am very excited about it.”

“It is a nice little bonus as I guess I picked the right tournament to win. It just means that my win will stretch out a little longer. Head Coach [Emily] Klein’s UCF Tournament needs to be recognized because it is run very well. She works very hard in conjunction with Annika and the Ginn Company to put together an excellent field and event.”

Tournament Director Becky Newell said, "We are extremely excited to have Alison included in our prestigious field. She is a talented player and this will be a great experience for her to compete with the best players in the world."

The $2.6 million Ginn Tribute hosted by ANNIKA will be played for the second-consecutive year at RiverTowne Country Club in Charleston, S.C., May 26-June 1, 2008. The 2007 Ginn Tribute hosted by ANNIKA saw Nicole Castrale earn her first LPGA title. Castrale defeated Lorena Ochoa in a sudden-death one-hole playoff to win the $390,000 paycheck.

About Annika
Annika is the greatest female golfer of our generation and often regarded as the best player in LPGA history. Her prestigious list of accomplishments includes her 2003 induction into the World Golf and LPGA Halls of Fame, ten Major Championships, 85 worldwide professional victories, eight LPGA Player of the Year Awards, and participation on eight Solheim Cup teams. Annika has worked hard on her off-the-course businesses, which include the ANNIKA Academy, the ANNIKA Foundation, the ANNIKA Collection with Cutter & Buck, numerous golf course design projects, tournaments she hosts on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tours, along with her website and blog.

About Ginn Resorts
Ginn Resorts is a privately-held resort development and management firm specializing exclusive leisure lifestyle and vacation destination communities. The firm owns and operates communities across the United States and the Caribbean. Headquartered in Celebration, Fla., the firm’s principals have more than three decades of experience in creating large-scale, master-planned resorts and recreation-oriented communities. For more information, visit www.ginnresorts.com.

WCU finishes 6th in Cuthbert Cup

Kiawah Island, S.C. – Inclement weather which moved across the Eastern seaboard and prompted tournament officials to change the start on Tuesday forced the cancellation of the third round of the Cuthbert Cup, leaving second-round leaders as the event champions. Host College of Charleston claimed the women’s team championship while UNC Wilmington was declared the men’s champion.

Western Carolina, which slipped from leading in the first round on the men’s side and standing in second on the women’s, finished sixth in both tournaments to open the spring portion of the schedule.

The Catamount men ranked second in both par 3 and par 5 scoring for the tournament, shooting 4-over on the shortest holes and 8-under on the longest. WCU was also third in birdies with a combined 34.

College of Charleston Golfers tie for Medalists at Cuthbert Cup

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – College of Charleston golfers Steffi Kirchmayr and Courtney Brink tied for medalist honors at the Cuthbert Cup and have been named Southern Conference co-golfers of the week for all events played through February 26.

A sophomore from Pocking, Germany, Kirchmayr fired a two-round total of 142 with 70 in the opening round and 72 in the second. Her performance was equaled by Brink, who carded an opening-round 69. The sophomore from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., followed that with a 71 in round two, leading the Cougars to the team championship in the inaugural Cuthbert Cup in Kiawah Island, S.C.

Other top performances were turned in by Samantha Widmer of Elon, Erica Creed of UNC Greensboro and Desire Karlsson of Western Carolina.

Elon Player Named Golfer of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Elon senior Jimmy Lytle topped the field at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate by nine strokes this week and has been named Southern Conference men’s golfer of the week for all events played through February 26.

The Ocean Ridge, Fla., native fired identical rounds of 69 in the first two rounds of the event before closing out with 72 in round three. His nine-stroke individual victory helped Elon rally from a four-shot deficit over the final 18 holes to claim a one-stroke team win over Furman. Both Lylte’s 54-hole score and Elon’s team score (890) were records for the young tournament.

Other top performances this week included Soonam Kim of College of Charleston, Ben Rickett of Chattanooga, Drew Lethem of Georgia Southern, Andres Cuenca of Western Carolina and Garrett Medeiros of Wofford.

Spence Involved in Three Projects

The new year is picking up where the old one left off for golf course architect Kris Spence. He's broken ground on two high-profile Donald Ross restorations in Charlotte - Myers Park Country Club and Carolina Golf Club - and is entering the final stages of a complete redesign of Lake Toxaway Country Club in the mountains of North Carolina.

All this follows a busy 2007 in which Spence earned high marks for a pair of restorations to the Ross-designed Sedgefield Country Club (Greensboro) and Forsyth Country Club (Winston-Salem), plus a major remodel of Mount Airy's Cross Creek Golf Club. Spence's work at Sedgefield facilitated the return of Greensboro's PGA Tour event this August to the historic layout.

"Our team had the good fortune to work on three quality projects last year and fortune has smiled upon us again in 2008," Spence said. "This year's projects will allow us to stay in the forefront of the Ross restoration movement, while simultaneously showcasing our own design ability with the remake of Lake Toxaway Country Club."

Carolina Golf Club was designed by Ross in 1929 and began as a public course before going private in 1958. The course has been altered several times over the years, presenting Spence with a unique opportunity. "There are very few people alive who experienced the original design. It didn't last long enough," Spence said. "But upon discovering drawings and doing field research, it was like many Ross designs - all about strategy and angles of play and the distinct look of his bunkers and raised greens. The golf is going to be spectacular when we're done. It's going to shock people."

Spence said the Carolina project will both restore the course and update it for modern play. Work will include new green complexes, bunkering, irrigation system and tee boxes. When finished, the par-71 course will measure just over 7,100 yards.

"With the additional 30 acres that have been purchased, we've eliminated the cramped feeling. It's really opened up and there are probably some of the best golf holes in the state of North Carolina," Spence said. "The third hole, without a doubt, is one of the most architecturally significant golf holes in the Southeast. In fact, it's one of the most impressive holes I've ever seen Donald Ross design."

Myers Park Country Club was not originally designed by Ross. In 1945, the legendary Scotsman was commissioned to thoroughly redesign and remodel the course. Unike many Ross courses, the routing and field drawings of each hole still exist and will be used extensively by Spence. "This project is going to completely reclaim and reinstate the Ross character and routing of the golf course," said Spence. "Some revisions to the course over the years will be left in place, but for the most part we will reclaim the Ross design that once existed."

The scope of the work at Myers Park involves significant work to the green complexes and bunkering, plus new tee boxes and a new irrigation system. Spence is also creating an irrigation lake that will eliminate the need for city water to maintain the course. "I'm very excited about Myers Park," Spence explained. "We will be reclaiming that distinct, sharp appearance of a classic design. And, we're going to instill a lot more strategy off the tee by bringing fairway bunkers into the hitting zones.

"It's a beautiful, beautiful piece of property with dramatic elevation changes. We've identified some interesting areas that haven't been utilized in years that will be brought back into play."

Construction at both Myers Park and Carolina will finish in early May. Fairway grasses will be sprigged from mid May to early June, with expected re-opening dates in September.

"The city of Charlotte is going to be blessed with some of the best Donald Ross courses in the state when we're finished with both these projects," said Spence.