Dec. 6, 2005

The George Mason Men's Golf Team was ranked third by the Mid Atlantic Region Golf Committee in the standings released after the fall campaign. This is arguably one of the best seasons the Patriots have seen in recent years. The last time the team was ranked in the Top Five was during the 1996 season when it was ranked third. Mason ties for third place with Liberty and is preceded by #1 ranked University of Maryland and #2 George Washington. This ranking puts the Patriots ahead of Princeton (8), James Madison (16), William and Mary (20), and Georgetown (21).

Mason's fall campaign was a very successful one, having won two tournaments and placing second in another two. The Patriots won the first tournament of the season the Navy Fall Golf Invitational in Annapolis and the James Madison Invitational in mid-October. The only other time the Patriots won two tournaments in a season was during the 2000-01 season.

As a team, the Patriots averaged 73.8 strokes per round. In five tournaments this fall, senior Mike Kirby averaged a career-best and Mason season record 70.7 strokes per round, including 69.3 stroke average in the final three tournaments alone. At the JMU Invitational the team recorded an 836, the lowest 54-hole score in Mason history, breaking the 869 set at the same tournament in 2002. Dan Hurley averaged 72.7 strokes on the season and recorded a career-best 208 (71-68-69) to finish in a tie for fifth place at the JMU tournament. Nick DeSimone finished the season averaging 74.3 and placed in the top 20 in three tournaments. Senior Mike Cavanaugh finished with a 75.2 average.

Individual accolades have gone to Mike Kirby who won back-to-back tournaments, the JMU Invitational and the Frank Landrey Intercollegiate Invitational held at Liberty University. He shot a career-best 61 on the final round of the 54-hole tournament, breaking the course record at Lakeview Country Club in Harrisonburg, Va.

In her eighth season with the Patriots, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) recently named Linda Gaudi Coach of the Year for the Northeast Region. This is the second time the Patriots coach has won that prestigious honor, last time in 2000.

Mason will open its spring season by traveling to Citrus Springs, Florida to compete in the El Diablo Intercollegiate Golf Tourney in March 2006.

Team rankings used to determine entrants into the NCAA Regional Tournaments are determined by a Regional Advisory Committee, and are also based on head-to-head competitions. The top four teams in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Committee rankings, of which George Mason is a member, get the Mid-Atlantic Region's NCAA bids.