May 27, 2008

West Lafayette, Ind. - The Charlotte 49ers, who won their third straight Atlantic 10 Championship and placed 7th at the NCAA East Regional, are seeded 12th in the 30-team 2008 NCAA Div. I Men's Golf Championship (Kampen Course, Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex; West Lafayette, Ind.). Charlotte is enjoying its fourth straight NCAA appearance and is one of just nine teams making its third straight trip to the NCAA Championship. Last year, the 49ers finished 3rd at the NCAA Championship. This year, Charlotte was ranked 10th in the preseason Golf World/GCAA Coaches' poll and spent time as the nation's consensus #1-ranked team after winning its first four stroke-play events, including the PING/Golfweek Preview (played at the Kampen Course). Charlotte is now ranked 6th by Golfstat, 8th by Golfweek and 6th in the final Golf World/GCAA coaches' poll.

The 49ers return four members from last year's NCAA third-place lineup, including three seniors: Andrew DiBitetto, Jonas Enander Hedin and Trevor Murphy. The 49ers senior class is the first in school history (any sport) to be a part of four straight NCAA Tournament teams.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
#12 Seed Charlotte 49ers
Wed., May 28 - Sat., May 31
Kampen Course; Birck Boilermaker Complex
West Lafayette, Ind.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD:
Teams (seeded in the following order): 1. Southern California; 2. Georgia; 3. Wake Forest; 4. Oklahoma State; 5. Clemson; 6. Florida; 7. UCLA; 8. UAB; 9. Alabama; 10. Stanford; 11. Auburn; 12. Charlotte; 13. Texas A&M; 14. East Tennessee State; 15. Indiana; 16. Oregon; 17. Augusta State; 18. UC Irvine; 19. Illinois; 20. Louisville; 21. Mississippi State; 22. Washington; 23. Saint Mary's; 24. Arizona State; 25. Kent State; 26. Penn State; 27. San Diego State; 28. Texas ; 29. Middle Tennessee State; 30. Virginia

THE COACH:
Jamie Green, Charlotte 5th year with the 49ers 4th NCAA Trip; 3rd NCAA Finals 3-Time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year 17 Tournament Titles

AT KAMPEN COURSE:
The 49ers are playing in their third tournament of the 2007-08 season at Purdue's Kampen Course. In the fall, Charlotte won the PING/Golfweek Preview (7,467 yds) by four strokes over Oklahoma State, shooting a +3, 867. Junior Stefan Wiedergruen, who had two first-place and one second-place finishes on the season, won the event at -7, 209 while senior Jonas Enander Hedin tied for 2nd at -5, 211. This spring, Charlotte placed 5th of 14 teams at the Boilermaker Invitational (7,079 yds.), shooting -6, 858. Senior Trevor Murphy was the Niners top finisher at -3, 213 to place tied for eighth.

ENANDER HEDIN IN PALMER CUP; NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE:
Senior Jonas Enander Hedin (Taby, Sweden) has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2008 Palmer Cup, The Ryder-Cup-style event pitting the top collegians from the US against their European counterparts. Enander Hedin will represent the European team. Enander Hedin is one of five finalists for the Byron Nelson Award (college senior) and was among the top 20 finalists for the Hogan and Nicklaus National Player of the Year Awards.

NCAA ELITE:
Charlotte is one of nine teams that have reached the 30-team NCAA Championship in each of the last three years. Of them, five have boasted a top five finish:
3rd Straight Year In NCAA Finals, top finish
Oklahoma State, 1st (2006)
Georgia: 2nd (2007)
Florida: 2nd (2006)
Charlotte: 3rd (2007)
Wake Forest: 3rd (2006)
UCLA: 7th (2006, 2007)
Arizona State: 11th (2006)
Auburn: Did not make cut
East Tennessee State: did not make cut

Note: Stanford, which did not make the field in 2006 but won the 2007 National Title is the only other team in the field with a top 5 finish in the last three years.