University of Oklahoma MEn s Golf Phillip Rogers, OU Men s Golf Media Relations Contact 180 W. Brooks, Suite 2525, Norman, OK 73019 O: (405) 325-8349 C: (405) 880-0794 F: (405) 325-7623 philliprogers@ou.edu www.soonersports.com Sept. 10-11 Sept. 24-25 Oct. 14-16 Oct. 22-23 Feb. 6-8 Feb. 18-19 March 3-4 Scenic City Invitational Chattanooga, Tenn. Shoal Creek Intercollegiate Birmingham, Ala. Oklahoma Intercollegiate Edmond, Okla. Santa Clara Invitational San Jose, Calif. UH - Hilo Intercollegiate Waikola Village, Hawaii UT - San Antonio Intercollegiate San Antonio, Texas USC Collegiate Invitational Westlake Village, Calif. March 17-18 Barona Collegiate Cup San Diego, Calif. April 11-13 April 25-27 May 10-11 May 15-17 May 28-31 ASU Thunderbird Invitational Tempe, Ariz. Big 12 Championships Trinity, Texas The Perry Maxwell Invitational Ardmore, Okla. NCAA Regional TBA NCAA Championships West Lafayette, Ind. oklahoma PLAYER TO WATCH phillip bryan The Mustang, Okla., senior is making his 35th tournament appearance as a Sooner this week at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate. Bryan is the only upperclassman on the OU roster this year. 3rd/17 847 (-5) T5th/12 887 (+23) OU HOSTS SECOND ANNUAL OKLAHOMA INTERCOLLEGIATE SOONERS look to carry momentum of early-season play as it hosts strong field at historic oak tree golf club oklahoma Sooners IN THE POLLS 24 - Golfweek / Sagarin Performance Index (NR) Golf World / Nike Golf Coaches Poll OU TOURNAMENT ROSTER Phillip Bryan Sr. Mustang, Okla. Eric Durbin So. Houston, Texas Jesse Schutte So. Florence, Ore. Tyler Rody So. Andover, Kan. Ben Blundell So. Rowlett, Texas Individuals: Liam Logan Fr. Ft. Worth, Texas Cameron Meyers Fr. Edmond, Okla. Spencer Rives So. Lafayette, La. Ryan Sirman Fr. Tyler, Texas Setting The Scene Event: 2007 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Dates: Oct. 14-16, 2007 Location: Edmond, Okla. Host: University of Oklahoma Venue: Oak Tree Golf Club Par / Yardage: 71 / 7,417 Format: 54 holes; 18 on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Tee Times: 9 a.m. (CT) each day Field: Arkansas, Baylor, OU, ORU, Santa Clara, SMU, Stephen F. Austin St., Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa and UT-San Antonio NORMAN, Okla. -- The OU men s golf squad seeks its first tourney title since the 06 Big 12 Championships when it hosts the second annual Oklahoma Intercollegiate at the par-71, 7417-yard Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla. The 54-hole event features a field of 11 teams that includes four ranked in the top 35 of the latest Golf World / Nike Golf Coaches poll. Eighteen-hole rounds will be played Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, with each at commencing at 9 a.m. CT. Oak Tree has played host to many illustrious events, including the 2006 Senior PGA Championship and the 1988 PGA Championship. Tulsa won the team title last year while Golden Hurricaine golfer Sam Korbe won medalist honors. Oklahoma has recorded top-five finishes in both of its fall tournaments, while sophomore Eric Durbin has carded back-to-back top-20 finishes, highlighted by a 7-under-par 64 at the Scenic City Invitational last month. Live scoring will be available at golfstat.com. Visit SoonerSports.com for a recap of each day s action.
2007-08 Quick Facts Location... Norman, Okla. Enrollment... 29,721 Founded... 1890 Nickname... Sooners Colors... Crimson and Cream Conference...Big 12 President...David Boren Athletics Director... Joe Castiglione Website... SoonerSports.com Home Course..Jimmie Austin University of Oklahoma Golf Course Par... 72 Yardage... 7,197 Course Phone... (405) 325-6716 COACHING STAFF Head Coach... Jim Ragan Alma Mater... Mississippi State, 1990 Years in Collegiate Coaching... 14 Year at OU... Eighth Assistant Coach... Lynn Monzingo Alma Mater...Eastern New Mexico, 1985 Office Phone... (405) 325-8486 Years in Collegiate Coaching...Two Year at OU... Second PROGRAM HISTORY National Championships... One ( 89) Regional Championships... Three ( 89, 95, 01) Conference Championships... 14 Tournament Victories... 20 (Since 1980) TEAM INFORMATION 2006-07 Big 12 Finish...Fifth Postseason... (T)21st at NCAA Central Regional Returners... Six Ben Blundell... Rowlett, Texas, SO Phillip Bryan... Mustang, Okla., SR Eric Durbin...Houston, Texas, SO Spencer Rives...Lafayette, La., SO Tyler Rody... Andover, Kan., SO Jesse Schutte... Florence, Ore., SO Newcomers... Four Liam Logan... Fort Worth, Texas, FR Cameron Meyers... Edmond, Okla., FR Riley Pumphrey...Georgetown, Texas, FR Ryan Sirman...Tyler, Texas, FR Letterwinners Lost... Two Nick Sheedy...Burlington, Iowa, SR J.J. Wood... Yuma, Ariz., SR MEDIA INFORMATION OU Men s Golf Contact... Phillip Rogers Office Phone... (405) 325-8349 Cell Phone... (405) 880-0794 Fax... (405) 325-7623 Email... philliprogers@ou.edu BEN BLUNDELL 2007-08 roster Golf World/NIKE Golf Coaches Poll Ranking Team Pts. Last 1 Stanford (9) 579 1 2 Alabama (9) 576 2 T3 Georgia (1) 510 3 T3 UCLA (1) 510 5 5 florida (1) 504 4 6 Southern California 423 6 7 Oklahoma State 402 7 8 florida State 370 15 9 Charlotte (1) 364 10 10 Clemson 341 9 11 Texas A&M 329 11 12 Georgia Tech 323 8 13 Duke 270 17 14 Coastal Carolina 248 13 15 Tennessee 225 14 16 UNLV 219 12 17 Arizona State 216 18 18 Louisville 189 19 19 East Tennessee State 171 21 20 Wake Forest 133 23 21 Lamar 131 16 22 South Carolina 129 20 23 Texas 114 22 24 Michigan State 88 NR 25 Georgia State 75 24 Others receiving votes: Auburn, 60; Arizona, 58; Texas Tech, 40; Tulsa, 36; North Carolina, 33; BYU, 27; Minnesota, 26; Baylor, 19; Indiana, 17; Kentucky, 16; Purdue, 6; Northwestern, 4; Kent State, 3; Pepperdine, 3; UAB, 3; Chattanooga, 2; East Carolina, 2; Michigan, 2; Central Florida, 2; UC-Irvine, 1; Washington, 1. Player Height Year Hometown (Previous Affiliations) Pronunciation Blundell, Ben 5-10 So. Rowlett, Texas (Rowlett HS) blun-dell Bryan, Phillip 5-9.5 Sr. Mustang, Okla. (Mustang HS) Durbin, Eric 6-4 So. Houston, Texas (Cypress Creek HS) DER-bin Liam Logan 6-0 Fr. Fort Worth, Texas (Paschal HS) LEE-um Cameron Meyers 6-5 Fr. Edmond, Okla. (Edmond North HS) Riley Pumphrey 6-0 Fr. Georgetown, Texas (Georgetown HS) PUM-free Rives, Spencer 6-0 So. Lafayette, La. (St. Thomas More HS) rhymes with dives Rody, Tyler 6-0 So. Andover, Kan. (Andover Central HS) Schutte, Jesse 5-11 So. Florence, Ore. (Siuslaw HS) SHOOT-ee Ryan Sirman 6-1 Fr. Tyler, Texas (Grace Community HS) Head Coach: Jim Ragan, Mississippi State 90 Assistant Coach: Lynn Monzingo, Eastern New Mexico 85 PHILLIP BRYAN RAY-ginn mon-zing-o
AMONG THE BIG 12 s BEST AVERAGE FINISH IN THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SINCE 2001 10.71 10.14 7.86 7.71 7.71 7.71 6.43 5.86 5.57 2.57 2.57 2.14 IOWA STATE NEBRASKA COLORADO MISSOURI KANSAS STATE KANSAS BAYLOR TEXAS TECH TEXAS A&M OKLAHOMA STATE OKLAHOMA TEXAS JIM RAGAN HEAD COACH eighth SEASON 2006 Big 12 Coach of the year AT OKLAHOMA Led OU to its first Big 12 title in 2006 Named 2006 Big 12 Coach of the Year Coached the first two freshman All-Americans in school history, Carlos Del Moral and Anthony Kim Selected as 2004 Easton Golf Pride Regional Coach of the Year 2001 Sun Mountain Sports Coach of the Year for District Five Led the Sooners to second-place finishes in the Big 12 Championship in 2001, 2004 and 2005 Won the 2001 NCAA Central Regional at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. Players have earned six All-America awards, four Academic All- America awards, and been named 2004 NCAA Freshman of the Year and 2005 Big 12 Player of the Year Coached three-time All-American Anthony Kim who has three top-10 finishes as the youngest player on the PGA Tour AT VANDERBILT Guided the Commodores to their first tournament title in nine years Coached the first individual medalist in school history Individuals placed in the top 10 a school-record 10 times during 1999-2000 season Coached the first Academic All-American at Vanderbilt Recruited and coached Brandt Snedeker, the school s first All-American, SEC Player of the Year, 2003 USGA Public Links champion and currently leading all rookies on the PGA Tour money list AT TEXAS (ASSISTANT COACH) Helped the Longhorns to a third-place finish at the 1995 NCAA Championships and a record-setting seventh consecutive Southwest Conference championship while an assistant at UT Coached current PGA Tour player Harrison Frazar and 1997 College Player of the Year Brad Elder Recruited US Amateur champion and PGA Tour winner David Gossett
FALL 2007 TEAM RESULTS Date Tournament site score Place/Teams Sept. 10-11 Scenic City Invitational Chattanooga, Tenn. 847 (-5) 3rd/17 Sept. 24-25 Shoal Creek Intercollegiate Birmingham, Ala. 887 (+23) T5th/12 SPRING 2007 TEAM RESULTS Date Tournament site score Place/Teams Feb. 7-9 UH-Hilo Intercollegiate Waikoloa, Hawaii 857 (+17) 17th/18 March 5-6 USC Collegiate Invitational Westlake Village, Calif. 883 (+31) 8th/15 March 11-12 Hackler Invitational Myrtle Beach, S.C. 898 (+34) 16th/18 March 26-27 Morris Williams Intercollegiate Austin, Texas 589 (+13) T9th/14 April 7-8 Boilermaker Invitational West Lafayette, Ind. 619 (+43) 13th/14 April 13-15 ASU Thunderbird Invitational Tempe, Ariz. 860 (-4) 9th/16 April 23-24 Big 12 Championships Hutchinson, Kan. 903 (+63) 5th/12 May 12-13 The Perry Maxwell Invitational Ardmore, Okla. 820 (-20) 7th/10 May 17-19 NCAA Central Regional Sugar Grove, Ill. 943 (+79) T21/27 2007-2008 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Player Rounds Strokes Low Average Ben Blundell 6 443 70 73.83 Phillip Bryan 6 428 66 71.33 Eric Durbin 6 427 64 71.17 Liam Logan 0 - - - Cameron Meyers 0 - - - Riley Pumphrey 0 - - - Spencer Rives 0 - - - Tyler Rody 6 450 73 75.00 Jesse Schutte 3 216 70 72.00 Ryan Sirman 3 232 75 77.33 GOLFWEEK / SAGARIN PERFORMANCE INDEX 1. Charlotte 69.10 2. South Carolina 69.84 3. Georgia Tech 69.92 4. Alabama 70.22 5. Oklahoma State 70.31 6. Chattanooga 70.39 7. Florida State 70.59 8. Middle Tennessee State 70.64 9. Southern California 70.71 10. Auburn 70.72 11. Texas Tech 70.87 12. Wake Forest 70.87 13. South Alabama 70.88 14. Georgia 70.88 15. Stanford 70.91 16. Lamar 70.93 17. Texas A&M 70.96 18. Penn State 71.03 19. Florida 71.03 20. Duke 71.04 21. Michigan State 71.07 22. Indiana 71.10 23. UAB 71.15 24. Oklahoma 71.19 25. Wisconsin 71.25 CAREER STATISTICS THROUGH SHOAL CREEK INTERCOLLEGIATE NAME HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL EVENTS ROUNDS STROKE AVERAGE STROKES BEST ROUND TOP 5 TOP 10 TOP 25 Ben Blundell Rowlett, Texas/ Rowlett HS 13 37 75.35 2788 65 1 1 3 Phillip Bryan Mustang, Okla./ Mustang HS 34 100 75.45 7545 66 0 1 7 Eric Durbin Houston, Texas/ Cypress Creek HS 6 18 74.44 1340 64 1 1 2 Liam Logan ft. Worth, Texas/ Paschal HS 0 - - - - - - - Cameron Meyers Edmond, Okla./ Edmond North HS 0 - - - - - - - Riley Pumphrey Georgetown, Texas/ Georgetown HS 0 - - - - - - - Spencer Rives Lafayette, La./ St. Thomas More HS 1 3 79.00 237 75 0 0 0 Tyler Rody Andover, Kan./ Andover Central HS 4 12 75.92 911 70 0 0 0 Jesse Schutte Florence, Ore./ Siuslaw HS 13 37 74.46 2755 67 1 1 4 Ryan Sirman Tyler, Texas/ Grace Community HS 1 3 77.33 232 75 0 0 0
OU BESTS SINCE 1985 INDIVIDUAL LOW ROUND Year Tournament Score Name 1987 Big Eight Championship 63 Todd Hamilton 2007 Scenic City Invitational 64 Eric Durbin 2001 Big 12 Championship 64 John Kidwell 1989 Big Eight Championship 64 Jeff Lee 1989 Taylor Made Red River Classic 64 Doug Martin 2005 NCAA Central Regional 65 Anthony Kim 1999 Taylor Made Red River Classic 65 Chris Careton 2006 CordeValle Collegiate 65 Ben Blundell 2007 Scenic City Invitational 66 Phillip Bryan 2006 UH-Hilo Intercollegiate 66 Justin Fraley 2006 Taylor Made Red River Classic 66 Anthony Kim 2006 Puerto Rico Classic 66 Phillip Bryan 2001 Big 12 Championship 66 Cody Freeman 1999 NCAA Championship 66 Matthew Cohn 1993 Ping Arizona Intercollegiate 66 Craig Cozby 1995 Morris Williams 66 Grant Masson 1999 Taylor Made Red River Classic 66 Cody Freeman 1999 Taylor Made Red River Classic 66 Chris Careton 1993 Taylor Made Red River Classic 66 Patrick Lee 1988 Taylor Made Red River Classic 66 Jeff Lee 1989 William H. Tucker 66 Matthew Lane 1994 NCAA Central Regional 66 Alex Munoz 1985 Big Eight Championship 66 Grant Waite INDIVIDUAL LOW TOTAL Year Tournament Score Name 2001 Big 12 Championship 203 John Kidwell 1993 Taylor Made Red River Classic 205 Patrick Lee 2007 Scenic City Invitational 206 Eric Durbin 2006 Taylor Made Red River Classic 206 Anthony Kim 2005 Big 12 Championship 206 Anthony Kim 2001 Taylor Made Red River Classic 206 Martin Flores 1988 John Hancock All-American Int. 206 Doug Martin 2007 Scenic City Invitational 207 Phillip Bryan 2001 Ridges Intercollegiate 207 Martin Flores 1999 NCAA Central Regional 207 Cody Freeman 2007 ASU Thunderbird Invitational 208 Jesse Schutte 2006 Big 12 Championship 208 Anthony Kim 1990 Taylor Made Red River Classic 208 Jeff Lee 2002 Taylor Made Red River Classic 209 J.D. Robertson 2001 The Maxwell 209 John Kidwell 2001 The Maxwell 209 Cody Freeman 1991 Perry Max Intercollegiate 209 Cary Cozby 1989 William H. Tucker Invitational 209 Matthew Lane 1987 Big Eight Championship 209 Grant Waite TEAM LOW ROUND Year Tournament Score 2005 The Maxwell 267 2006 The Maxwell 269 1998 The Maxwell 269 2007 The Maxwell 271 1999 Taylor Made Red River Classic 272 2007 The Maxwell 273 2001 Big 12 Championship 274 2007 The Maxwell 276 1994 Ping Arizona Intercollegiate 276 1993 NCAA National Championship 276 2007 Scenic City Invitational 277 2006 Taylor Made Red River Classic 277 1999 NCAA Central Regional 277 2005 UH-Hilo Intercollegiate 279 TEAM LOW TOURNAMENT TOTAL Year Tournament Score 2006 The Maxwell 815 2007 The Maxwell 820 2005 The Maxwell 827 1984 All College Classic 833 1992 The Maxwell 842 1992 Big Eight Championship 842 2006 Taylor Made Red River Classic 845 1993 The Maxwell 845 2007 Scenic City Invitational 847 1994 NCAA National Championship 847 1993 Ping Arizona Intercollegiate 847 1989 John A. Burns Intercollegiate 847 1999 Taylor Made Red River Classic 849 2001 Big 12 Championship 853 1994 Taylor Made Red River Classic 853 1993 Taylor Made Red River Classic 853 2002 Taylor Made Red River Classic 854 1996 NCAA Central Regional 854 1995 NCAA Central Regional 854 2001 ASU Thunderbird Invitational 856 2001 Ridges Intercollegiate 857 2007 UH-Hilo Intercollegiate 857 ERIC DURBIN FIRED A FIRST-ROUND 64 IN THE 2007 SCENIC CITY INVITATIONAL, MARKING THE LOWEST ROUND BY AN OU GOLFER SINCE 2001.
TOURNAMENT RECAPS: SCENIC CITY INVITATIONAL: Sept. 11, 2007 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The University of Oklahoma men s golf team opened the 2007-08 season with a third-place showing at the Scenic City Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn., Tuesday. OU bested 14 squads, including three ranked in the latest Golfstat.com top-50 poll, at the 6,961-yard, par-71 Council Fire Golf Club. Starting the final round in a tie for third, Eric Durbin fired a 1-under-par 70 on Tuesday to finish second. The result was OU s best individual finish since Brodie Flanders finished second at the 2006 Big 12 Championship. Durbin s 7-under-par 64 in the opening round was the lowest round by an OU golfer since John Kidwell shot 64 in the 2001 Big 12 Championship. I can t overstate how impressive Eric s 64 was yesterday morning, said head coach Jim Ragan. Starting the season in the manner he did shows how hard he worked on his game over the summer. The Houston, Texas, native jumped up the leaderboard into a tie for first at the midway point of his final round after an opening-nine, 3-under-par 33 that included birdies at three of his first four holes. A birdie at the par-3 14th moved the sophomore to 4-under on his final round but a bogey at the 16th and a double-bogey six at the closing hole dropped Durbin back to -7 for the tournament. Phillip Bryan, the lone upperclassman on the Oklahoma roster, finished a stroke behind Durbin at -6. The Mustang, Okla., product strung together birdies at the second, third and fourth holes to move into a first-place tie early in the final round. A bogey at the par-4 eighth was offset by a birdie at the 13th, but the senior closed his round with a double-bogey at the 17th and a bogey at the 18th to drop into a tie for sixth. Phillip and Eric got us off to the start we were missing last year in tournaments, added Ragan. I m thrilled on how they played this early in the season. Standing on the 17th tee today, both put themselves in a position to possibly win the tournament. They both had a little trouble coming in but that comes with experience. Sometimes you have to finish second before you can finish first. Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Jesse Schutte jumped from 43rd to 26th after shooting 70 on Tuesday. The Florence, Ore., native carded rounds of 73, 73 and 70. Rounding out the OU scoring were sophomores Ben Blundell and Tyler Rody, who finished 46th and 57th, respectively. Blundell shot 75 in the final round while Rody carded a 73, his low round of the season opener. Twenty-second ranked Charlotte took home the team title after a three-round, 30-under-par effort. Tournament host UT-Chattanooga finished seven shots back. Starting the round in a tie for third, Charlotte s Corey Nagy won medalist honors after a finalround 67. Nagy finished three shots better than Durbin and a trio of other golfers. The two teams in front of us put together two excellent rounds on Monday and separated themselves so far from the field that they most likely were not going to be caught, said Ragan. But with quite a few teams grouped right around us, I challenged our team to hold onto that third-place standing and they responded. I was extremely pleased with how we finished the event. SHOAL CREEK INTERCOLLEGIATE: Sept. 25, 2007 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The University of Oklahoma men s golf team finished tied for fifth at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday, after a final round 11-over-par 299. Oklahoma, who entered the final round tied for fourth -- five shots out of second -- started fast on a hot and humid final day at the 7,154- yard, par-72 Shoal Creek Country Club. The Sooners jumped to third after playing the front nine a combined 2-over, but played the final nine at 7-over, falling back to fifth. I felt that at times this week we played some very solid golf, said head coach Jim Ragan. We still need to see some more consistency from the guys in order to finish where we are capable of in the standings. Senior Phillip Bryan jumped from 22nd to 13th place after a finalround 73. The Mustang, Okla., native played his final five holes at 2-under-par. Phil showed some senior leadership finishing the tournament in the manner that he did, added Ragan. Without him playing as well as he did in the final few holes, we would have lost to some other teams that were very close in the standings. Also in 13th was fellow Sooner Eric Durbin, who shot 78 after entering the final round in second. The result marked the second consecutive top-20 finish for the Houston, Texas, native. The sophomore finished second at the Scenic City Invitational on Sept. 11. Ben Blundell finished 24th after rounds of 70, 80 and 73. Both Ben and Eric have put in some solid golf lately, said Ragan. They are both really close to breaking through in the individual standings if they can clean up some crucial mistakes at inopportune times. Rounding out the OU scoring were Tyler Rody and Ryan Sirman, who finished 39th and 49th, respectively. Rody shot 78 in the final round while Sirman improved his score on each day of his first collegiate tournament with rounds of 80, 77 and 75. Overnight leader Texas Tech took home the team title by five strokes over tournament host UAB. The Red Raider s Will Griffin and Brad Smith of UAB shared medalist honors at -3. OU returns to the links when it hosts the Oklahoma Intercollegiate, Oct. 14-16. The event will be held at historic Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla., and is free to the public. It will certainly be nice to play at home, said Ragan. We are looking forward to getting up to Oak Tree and putting together three solid rounds to compete for the championship. JESSE SCHUTTE
OU LINEUPS BY TOURNAMENT Tournament: Players: Scenic City Invitational Jesse Schutte Ben Blundell Phillip Bryan Eric Durbin Tyler Rody Shoal Creek Intercollegiate Eric Durbin Phillip Bryan Ben Blundell Tyler Rody Ryan Sirman Oklahoma Intercollegiate Eric Durbin Phillip Bryan Jesse Schutte Tyler Rody Ben Blundell MOVING ON UP OU is ranked 24th in the latest Golfweek / Sagarin rankings that were released on Oct. 7th. It marks the first time since the end of the 2005-06 season that the Sooners were ranked in the top-25 poll. IN ELITE COMPANY Sophomore Eric Dubin and senior Phillip Bryan are ranked 32nd and 42nd, respectively, in the latest Golfweek / Sagarin Performance Index. Only three other Big 12 Conference golfers are currently ranked higher. Oklahoma is the only Big 12 school with two golfers in the top 45. STEADY PLAY Oklahoma has finished in the top 10 in five of its last six events dating back to last year s Sun Devil Invitational. The Sooners have finished in the top five in both 07 fall tournaments, already matching their top-five tournament results from last season. EAGLE EYE Sooner freshman Ryan Sirman recorded one of just three eagles for the tournament at the 545-yard, par-5 6th hole at Shoal Creek Country Club during the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate. Sirman s eagle was one of only eight recorded on any hole throughout the entire tournament. FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING Ryan Sirman made his first collegiate start at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, becoming the first of four talented freshman to earn a spot in the starting five for the Sooners. Head coach Jim Ragan has not hesitated in allowing newcomers the chance to earn their spot, with Sirman becoming the seventh frosh to play in an event in just the last two seasons. BIRDIE BARRAGE Senior Phillip Bryan recorded a career-best, sixth-place showing at the Scenic City Invitational thanks to 15 birdies in the tournament, tying for most in the field. The Mustang, Okla., native reeled off six in the first-round on his way to a 5-under-par 66 which matched his career low. Right on Bryan s heels was sophomore Eric Durbin, who recorded 14 birdies of his own in the 54-hole event. The sophomore tallied four birdies in a five-hole stretch of his opening-nine and three-straight on the back nine resulting in a first-round 64, which was the lowest OU round since 2001. DOMINATING THE SHORT ONES RODY: ON-PAR TYLER RODY OU sophomore Tyler Rody recorded 38 pars at the 54-hole Scenic City Invitational, one off the field-leader. The Andover, Kan., native compiled a bogey-free stretch of 11 holes in the opening round, two six-hole stretches in the second round and went another six holes in the final round without a blemish on the card. Bryan and Durbin s tournament success at the Scenic City Invitational can be attributed to playing the par-3 s at 2-under-par, which led the field. Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Jesse Schutte was a stroke back of the two, playing the par-3 s at -1. Oklahoma s top three finishers were a combined 5-under-par on the par-3 s for the event, leading the field. Next best was tournament champion Charlotte at -4. OU and Charlotte were the only teams with three players in red figures at the short holes. No other team had more than one.
2006 OKLAHOMA INTERCOLLEGIATE RESULTS: Team Results 1. Tulsa 305-289-295=889 2. Baylor 316-290-294=900 3. SMU 316-302-287=905 4. LSU 306-294-317=917 5. Ohio State 304-304-311=919 Oklahoma 313-296-310=919 7. Arkansas 310-302-311=923 8. Michigan 315-299-310=924 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 1. Sam Korbe, Tulsa 72-71-76=219 (+6) 2. Nicolas Geyger, Tulsa 77-71-72=220 (+7) 3. Jeremy Alcorn, Baylor 83-70-69=222 (+9) Tim Schaetzel, Michigan 75-73-74=222 (+9) *Ben Blundell, OU 76-69-77=222 (+9) * -- Played as an individual OKLAHOMA INTERCOLLEGIATE (2006 RECAP): Oct. 17, 2006 NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma men s golf team finished in a tie for fifth place on Tuesday as host of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate. The tournament, held at the par-71, 7,412-yard Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla., saw a senior laden Tulsa squad win the event with a final-round 295, to finish at 889 (+37). OU freshman Ben Blundell, playing unattached, carded a final-round 77, to finish in a tie for third place. The Rowlett, Texas, native was three strokes off the mark of medalist Sam Korbe of Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane senior, who shot a final round 76, held on for a one-stroke victory over teammate Nicolas Geyger. I am excited about the way Ben performed over the course of the tournament, said Oklahoma men s golf head coach Jim Ragan. His second round shows what he is capable of and in following him around the course today, I have picked up on a few things we can do to improve his consistency. The Sooners started three true freshmen for the second straight tournament and their head coach knew there would be some growing pains with such an inexperienced roster. There will be a lot of work with this young team to get them to the point where they can compete week in and week out, said Ragan. We need to work some on basic fundamentals and putting themselves in the best possible scenario to succeed. OU s best score of the final round came from freshman Jesse Schutte, who fired a 76. The Florence, Ore., native posted rounds of 73,78 and 76. Other final-round scores for OU were bunched together as senior J.J Wood shot 77, junior Phillip Bryan carded a 78 and freshman Blaine Butner fired a 79. Rounding out the team scoring for the Sooners was freshman Eric Durbin, who shot an 84. Playing unnatached for the tournament along with Blundell were senior Nick Sheedy and freshmen Brandon Pelletier and Spencer Rives. They shot finalrounds of 77, 81 and 82, respectively. 2007-08 SOONER MEN S GOLF TEAM STANDING, LEFT TO RIGHT: RYAN SIRMAN, ERIC DURBIN, TYLER RODY, ASSISTANT COACH LYNN MONZ- INGO, HEAD COACH JIM RAGAN, SPENCER RIVES, CAMERON MEYERS AND RILEY PUMPHREY. SITTING, LEFT TO RIGHT: LIAM LOGAN, PHILLIP BRYAN, BEN BLUNDELL AND JESSE SCHUTTE Commented Ragan, I am disappointed in the way that our guys performed, but extremely grateful for the opportunity to host such an excellent event as the Oklahoma Intercollegiate. Hopefully next year we can perform as well on the course as we were treated off of it. OU returns to the links at the Corde Valley Collegiate on Nov. 6-7. The tournament, held in San Martin, Calif., will be the final fall event for the Sooners before they gear up for their spring slate of nine regular season tournaments. BEN BLUNDELL