Feb. 22, 2010

The George Mason golf team opens their spring season today at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate golf tournament on Hilton Head Island. The Patriots will join 16 other teams representing the ACC, Big 10, Conference USA, Southern Conference, Mid America Conference and the Atlantic Sun Conference in the two-day tournament.

The Mason golf team will head into the 2010 season looking to gain collegiate experience and create a solid foundation for the future. Coach Scott King will have to manage a large 16-man roster, which includes three players that will have to sit out the spring campaign because of injuries, and eight newcomers.

Coach King has only five returners that are available to play this season and few of the Green and Gold gained much experience in the fall. Of the five tournaments the Patriots competed, only three golfers participated in all five events, including returners Josh Apple and Marshall Tinsley. Apple and Tinsley each led the Patriots in two tournaments and Apple place third in The Manor, and Tinsley fourth at the Sea Trail Intercollegiate. Freshman Casey Thompson was the only other Patriot to play in all five tournaments.

Two other returning players to the line-up are upperclassmen Silas Vansky and Greg Brouse, who each played in three fall tournaments. Brouse finished 12th at the Joe Agee Invitational and had a solid 73.7 stroke average in seven rounds. The fifth available returner is senior Andrew Maryan who competed in only one fall tournament.

The Patriots newcomers include four freshman, one sophomore and three juniors. AJ Singh is the only newcomer to have some collegiate experience having played at Northern Virginia Community College. The Leesburg, Va. native, participated in one fall tournament.

The Patriots begin their six-tournament spring season at the Wexford Intercollegiate in Hilton Head, S.C. The CAA Championships is slated to be played at The Homestead April 16-18. Last year, Mason finished eighth at the CAA Championships.