March 20, 2005

(March 20, 2005) George Mason is twelve strokes off the lead and in eighth place after the first round at the William and Mary Invitational. But, only six strokes separate third place from eighth at the two day tournament. Richmond leads the 18-team field at the par 72, 7,120 yard Green Course at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg with its opening-round total of 294, host William and Mary is second, just two strokes behind.

Mason shot a 306 led by Mike Kirby's three over par 75 and 15th place individually. The University of Maryland is within striking distance after a first-round score of 300, six shots back, as Navy (302) and St. Joseph's (303) round out the top five. The field also includes CAA rivals Drexel and James Madison in addition to regional foes George Washington, Liberty and Loyola (MD).

Individually, Mike Cavanagh (36-40=76) and Dan Hurley (37-39=76) shot a 76, good for a tie for 22nd. Nick DeSimone had a great first nine, shooting a 36, but came to the clubhouse with a 43 on the second nine to finish 57th (36-43=79). Freshman Ryan Younger rounded out the five for the Patriots, shooting a (43-45=88).

The William and Mary Invitational concludes tomorrow with the final 18 holes, with staggered tee times from the 1st and 10th tees beginning at 8:00 a.m. Ryan Younger will be in the earliest group for the Patriots, teeing off at 8:08 a.m. The rest of the Patriots will follow every eight minutes until the last Mason golfer, Kirby tees of at 8:40 a.m.

George Mason Univ.       306
T 15    Mike Kirby		36- 39      75
T 22    Mike Cavanagh	36- 40      76
T 22    Dan Hurley		37- 39      76
T 57    Nick DeSimone	36- 43      79
T 94    Ryan Younger		43- 45      88

      Fin.   School                   Scores
         1   Richmond, Univ. of       294            +6
         2   Wm. & Mary, Coll. of     296            +8
         3   Maryland, U. of          300           +12
         4   Navy                     302           +14
         5   St. Joseph's Univer.     303           +15
         6   Boston College           305           +17
             George Washington        305           +17
         8   George Mason Univ.       306           +18
         9   Liberty University       309           +21
        10   Drexel University        310           +22
             St. Louis University     310           +22
        12   James Madison Univ.      311           +23
        13   Lehigh University        312           +24
             Loyola College           312           +24
        15   St. Bonaventure U.       313           +25
        16   Villanova University     314           +26
        17   Cleveland State U.       323           +35
        18   Dayton, Univ. of         329           +41