April 14, 2008

Lexington, Ky. - First-round leader, Western Carolina, slipped into fifth place over the final two rounds on Monday at the UK Bluegrass Invitational contested at the par 71, 7,013-yard University Club. The Catamounts were led by senior Matt Cook, who advanced three positions over the final 36-holes to place tied for sixth.

Central Florida, which was one-stroke back of WCU after Sunday's opening round, carded 899 to claim the team title by 16 strokes over Missouri and Murray State which finished tied for second with three-day totals of 315. The host Kentucky Wildcats finished fourth, three strokes ahead of fifth-place Catamounts.

Brent Long from Western Kentucky and Brian Belden from Kentucky, who was playing as an individual, finished tied atop the leader board with Long claiming the championship on the first hole of a playoff. The two finished with a 54-hole total of six-over, 219.

Cook carded three rounds of 75 to move from ninth-place to sixth in the final standings to pace the squad. Junior Andres Cuenca and freshman Caleb Marsh finished tied for 24th, with Cuenca posting the team's lowest round with a two-over, 73, on the final 18 holes.

Rounding out WCU's finishers were junior Dustin Furnari in a tie for 53rd (236) and sophomore Ricky Stout (t-61st, 238).

Western Carolina now sets its sights on the 2008 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship coming up April 19-21 at the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence, S.C. The Catamounts finished second earlier this season at the Raines Development Group Intercollegiate, hosted by Francis Marion, at the same venue with a three-round, 878, just one stroke off the team champion.

Last year, WCU finished in sixth place with Cook coming home tied for fourth, later garnering an at-large individual bid to the NCAA tournament.

Fans will be able to follow all of the action from the 2008 SoCon Championship with live scoring by visiting www.GolfStat.com.

UK Bluegrass Invitational - Final Results
 1 Central Florida     306 290 303 899 +47
T2 Missouri            315 287 313 915 +63
T2 Murray State        311 297 307 915 +63
 4 Kentucky            307 308 301 916 +64
 5 Western Carolina    305 304 310 919 +67
 6 Miami (Ohio)        310 301 309 920 +68
 7 Eastern Kentucky    311 299 312 922 +70
 8 Toledo              306 310 307 923 +71 
 9 Western Kentucky    312 310 302 924 +72
10 Akron               328 300 307 935 +83
11 Ball State          320 305 314 939 +87
12 Austin Peay State   326 308 306 940 +88
13 Cincinnati          319 319 304 942 +90
14 Dayton              322 317 309 948 +96
15 Ohio University     329 315 309 953 +101
16 Samford             316 327 315 958 +106
17 Morehead State      348 322 311 981 +129

5 Western Carolina  305 304 310 919 +67
T 6 Matt Cook        75  75  75 225 +12
T24 Andres Cuenca    77  81  73 231 +18
T24 Caleb Marsh      77  74  80 231 +18
T53 Dustin Furnari   76  78  82 236 +23
T61 Ricky Stout      79  77  82 238 +25