March 22, 2004

Williamsburg, Va. - The Cleveland State men's golf team carded a first-round score of 304 Monday at the Kingsmill/William and Mary Invitational for fifth-place out of a 22-school field. The Vikings are currently only six strokes off the lead at the par 71, 6,781 yard Kingsmill River Course in Williamsburg, Va.

"It's great to be in the position we're in right now," head coach Tom Porten said. "It was a tough day to play with the frigid temperatures we have down here, but we have a good shot to be in contention for first going into tomorrow."

Senior Billy Houle paced the CSU squad on the cold first day, shooting a 71 for third place overall. Freshman Mike Rutgers trailed Houle by just two strokes, posting a 73 for a fourth-place tie.

"Billy [Houle] played the most complete round of golf I've seen him play in almost a year," commented Porten. "He and Mike [Rutgers] really stepped-up big today."

The rest of the CSU field finds themselves in a positive position, with Cody Harris (79), Mike Bognar (81) and Bill Schaefer (83) all within 15 shots of the tournament leader.

Richmond currently stands atop the leader board, shooting an opening round of 298.

The second and final round of the invitational gets underway Tuesday morning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.