ISU in Eighth at 49'er Classic

CONCORD, N.C. ? Making a bid to win its third straight tournament, the Iowa State men's golf team settled in a tie for eighth place after the first round at the 49'er Collegiate Classic Monday at the Cabarrus Country Club. Host UNC-Charlotte is atop of the leaderboard along a first-round score of 294, one stroke ahead of the 49'ers' B-team and Ball State. The second round is underway but adverse weather conditions will most likely delay today's finish. Four golfers are tied for the lead in the medalist race with 2-under par 70, South Florida's Tyler Hitchcock, Ball State's Wayne Denger, Michigan's Tim Schaetzel and Elon's Jimmy Lytle.

Chris Baker, Joe Cermak and Ross Menke finished in the top-20 as the Cyclones shot a first-round team score of 304 to tie with Davidson and Jacksonville State. Baker is on pace for his third top-10 finish in five events this season. The junior from Brownsville, Ind., is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Big Four Championship and tied for ninth at the Wolf Pack Classic in Reno, Nev.

Cermak and Menke carded a 36-hole score of 75 to tie with 10 others for 20^th place. Cermak, like Baker, has two top-10 finishes this season, and leads the team in scoring average (72.61). Menke saw action competing individually at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational and Kansas Invitational but was inactive in Reno and Cedar Rapids.

Baker, Cermak, John Larson, Rodney Hamblin and Cameron White came into the 49'er Classic on pace to break Jason Knutzon's single-season stroke average record of 72.71 set in 1997.

The final round will be played tomorrow and the team will be off until Feb. 18-19 when ISU heads to Guadalarjara, Mexico, for the Santa Anita Classic.

First Round Results

T7 ? Chris Baker ? (37-35--72)

T20 ? Joe Cermak ? (38-37--75)

T20 ? Ross Menke ? (37-38--75)

T46 ? Rodney Hamblin ? (40-38--78)

T51 ? John Larson ? (40-39--79)

T75 ? Cameron White ? (42-42--84)

First-Round Team Scoring

1 ? UNC-Charlotte (294)

2 ? Charlotte “B” (295)

Ball State

4 ? Iowa (296)

Elon

6 ? South Florida (299)

7 ? Michigan (300)

8 ? Davidson (304

Jacksonville State

Iowa State

11 ? UNC-Wilmington (309)

12 ? George Washington (310)

13 ? Richmond (311)

14 ? East Carolina (315)

15 ? Pacific (322)

Players Mentioned

Chris Baker

Joe Cermak

Rodney Hamblin

Ross Menke

Cameron White

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics