Golden Eagles try to end fall season with a bang at Western Carolina tourney

Cassetty leads Tech with 71.6 average

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Tech has had at least one player place in the top 10 in three of its last four tournaments and has been compiling increasingly more consistent team scores over the course of the fall season.

These facts are enough to make head coach Polk Brown excited about the possibilities that await his squad in their final tournament of the fall season this weekend.

The Golden Eagles will begin play in Western Carolina’s Hummingbird Intercollegiate on Monday and will attempt to end the 2011 portion of their season on a positive note.

“Our team scores have gotten consistently better over the course of September and October and several different players on our team have shown the ability to go low,” said head coach Polk Brown. “I feel as though we have made substantial progress since our season-opening event, and in light of recent rounds played, I have a good bit of confidence heading to Sapphire Valley. I’m pumped for our team and excited to end our fall season on what I have heard is an outstanding venue.”

The event will be hosted at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley in Sapphire, N.C., and will consist of two rounds and 36 holes slated for Monday and Tuesday. Players will take part in a practice round on Sunday.

Groups will tee off both the front and back nines with front nine tee times beginning at 8 a.m. CDT with the back nine beginning at 8:05 a.m. Five players will compete for each team with the best scores of the top four counting each day.

A combined 17 teams and seven individual players representing eight different states will comprise the 92-golfer field. In addition to the Golden Eagles and host Catamounts, Vanderbilt and UAB highlight the field. UAB comes into the tournament ranked No. 21 in the nation while Vanderbilt is a top-100-ranked squad.

"This is neat for our guys to face such strong competition," Brown said. "We rarely, if ever, compete against top 25 squads."

Also playing in the tournament will be defending champ Jacksonville, Appalachian State, Elon, Furman, Samford, Wofford, Colgate, Francis Marion, Gardner-Webb, Guilford, High Point, Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, Radford and UAB.

The Country Club of Sapphire Valley course will play at a par 71 and a yardage of 6,767. The course sits on a level valley floor despite its mountainous surroundings.

Tech’s lineup will consist of Tyler Cassetty, Greg Kitts, Mason Griffin, Lee Maxwell and Travis Ramsey.

Cassetty leads the Golden Eagles through four tournaments this fall, posting a 71.6 average and two top-five finishes. The senior native of Whitleyville, Tenn., tied for third at the Murray State Invitational and took fourth at the Skyhawk Classic.

Kitts sits just behind Cassetty with a 72.9 average and is followed by Griffin (74.0), Diegel (75.3), Maxwell (77.1), Ramsey (77.7) and Maxx Verble (77.8).

Results from the Hummingbird Intercollegiate will be published on TTUSports.com as they become available.