June 15, 2007

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Charlotte 49ers golf team, on the strength of their third-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Div. I National Championship, are a consensus top 20 school in final 2007 polls conducted by Golfweek and Golfstat. The GolfWorld's Golf Coaches' Association of America (GCAA) National Poll lists the 49ers at No. 20 as of May 18. The 49ers will likely move up in the final coaches' poll by virtue of their third-place national finish.

The 49ers highest ranking is 14th by Golfstat - the highest ranking ever for the 49ers golf program. Golfweek ranks the 49ers 19th.

"It's a tribute to the balance of our team and a reflection of the consistency of play all year long," said head coach Jamie Green, a two-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. "And the reason we were able to stay consistent all yera long is that we have a balanced team and get contributions from players from top to bottom all year long."

Six of the 49ers top seven players are ranked in Golfweek's individual Top 200, including freshman Corey Nagy (55) and junior Jonas Enander Hedin (90), who both landed in the top 100. Junior Andrew DiBitetto (131) and senior Matt Mincer (137) both rank in the top 150 while junior Trevor Murphy (185) and sophomore Stefan Wiedergruen (192) slip into the top 200.

"The numbers and rankings are fine," Green added, "but I'll tell you, when you get to tournaments like the national championships and regionals and see teams that you haven't necessarily played before and for their players and coaches to make the comments that these (49ers) are really strong players. For others to recognize that is really the more gratifying part."

Charlotte is the highest ranked North Carolina team in the final GolfWeek and Golfstat rankings. Duke is ranked 21st by Golfstat and 22nd by Golfweek. Wake Forest is 24th in Golfweek's rankings and North Carolina is 24th by Golfstat.

Charlotte debuted in the national rankings in 2006 and reached as high as No. 17 in the final GolfWorld/GCAA poll after placing 22nd at the National Championship.

Charlotte won a school-record five tournament championships in 2006-07, besting the record of four titles in 2005-06. In four years under head coach Jamie Green, the 49ers have won 11 tournaments. Prior to his arrival, Charlotte had won just one tournament.

In Green's four years, the 49ers have won back-to-back Atlantic 10 Championships (2006, 2007) and finished as runner-up in Conference USA twice (2004, 2005). They have made the 49ers first three trips to the NCAA East Regionals (2005, 2006, 2007) and advanced to the NCAA National Championship, twice. In 2006, Charlotte placed 22nd at the National Championship. In 2007, the 49ers skyrocketed to third. In addition to the national rankings for team performance, Golf Digest ranked the 49ers golf program as the 22nd-best program in the country in a 2006 study that evaluated team scoring, player development, coaching, facilities and climate.

Along with the team success, several individual honors have been won in areas of both athletic and academic excellence. Junior Andrew DiBitetto and freshman Corey Nagy were named 2007 Honorable Mention PING/GCAA all-Americans, to become the first 49er golfers to garner all-America honors. Nagy was also named to the five-player 2007 NCAA Freshman all-America team. DiBitetto (2007) and Ray Sheedy (2006) have won the last two Atlantic 10 Men's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards while Sheedy and classmate Matt Mincer became the 49ers first-ever GCAA all-America Scholars in 2006. Green has been named A-10 Coach of the Year, twice and Mincer won A-10 Individual Medalist honors in 2007 while DiBitetto was the A-10 runner-up. Sheedy became the first 49ers to advance to the 4th and final round of the NCAA Championships, placing 27th at the 2006 NCAA finals. DiBitetto placed tied for ninth at the 2007 NCAA Championships -- besting Sheedy for the the highest national finish by an individual in 49ers' golf history.

Each of the 49ers school records are held by members of the 2006-07 team, as well, including 18-hole score (64, Matt Mincer), 54-hole tournament score (-14, 202 by Mincer), single-season stroke average (71.77, Ray Sheedy, 2006) and career stroke average (72.88, Andrew DiBitetto, 2005-07). Only two players: Sheedy and 2007 team leader Jonas Enander Hedin (71.86, 2007) have posted season-long stroke averages under 72.0.