June 19, 2007

CHARLOTTE, NC - Freshman Corey Nagy joined the Charlotte 49ers with hopes of cracking a Top 25 lineup that remained intact from an Atlantic 10 Championship season and 22nd-place finish at the 2006 NCAA National Championships. When the season ended he was taking the final stroke of the 2007 NCAA Championships, holing a birdie putt on the final hole in the final grouping as Charlotte grabbed a third-place national finish behind the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country: Stanford and Georgia.

He completed the season as one of the program's first two PING all-Americans, selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America, and the program's first-ever NCAA Freshman all-America.

"To have that kind of performance in his freshman year and be recognzied as one of the top five freshmen in the nation is a phenomenal achievement," said head coach Jamie Green. "He goes from battling for a spot to being one of the best players in all of college golf. From the beginning of March, he was in (title) contention at multiple events and was consistently putting up low numbers."

Nagy was named to the five-man Freshman all-America team after helping Charlotte win its second straight Atlantic 10 Championship and post a third-place finish at the NCAA National Championship. He concluded the year with a 72.2 stroke average -- the best ever by a 49ers freshman -- which included a 70.7 stroke average in eight tournaments from the beginning of March. He earned All-Atlantic 10 honors by placing tied for third at the A-10 Championships as Charlotte swept the top three spots: Matt Mincer, 1st; Andrew DiBitetto, 2nd; Nagy, tied for 3rd.

He was the 49ers' top finisher at tied for sixth at the Linger Longer Invitational which serves as a warm-up for the NCAA East Regional and he was the 49ers' top finisher at tied for 14th at the NCAA East Regional. He completed the first three rounds of the NCAA Championships as the 49ers top player, as well, before placing tied for 35th overall, second-best among 49ers' finishers. In his final 13 rounds spanning the A-10 Championships, the Linger Longer Invitational, the NCAA East Regional and the NCAA Championships, he shot par or better 10 times. In those 13 rounds, he had a stroke average of 70.77.

Nagy, who made his debut in the 49ers' five-man lineup in February after competing only as an individual in the fall semester, adapted quickly to the college game. After shooting a +19, 235 and placing fifth for the 49ers in his debut at the John Hayt Invitational, Nagy competed as an individual at the Hackler Championships, shooting -5, 211 -- the 49ers top score at the event. From that point on, Nagy was back in the lineup -- competing in seven more spring tournaments for the 49ers and always finishing among the 49ers top three and posting five straight top six finishes, overall.

The Charlotte 49ers, fresh off a third-place finsh at the 2007 NCAA National Championships, have been ranked ninth in GolfWorld senior writer Ryan Herrington's "very, very, very early" 2008 Pre-Season Top 10. The 49ers, under two-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Jamie Green, return four players from the NCAA Tournament lineup including PING Golf Coaches Association of America Honorable Mention All-Americas Andrew DiBitetto and Nagy, 2006-07 stroke leader Jonas Enander Hedin and rising senior Trevor Murphy.

A Rundown of Nagy's Final Six "A" Tournaments
Palisades (Charlotte), Apr. 9-10 - (-5), 211 - T5th
Courtyard (NC State), Apr. 13-14 - (-6,), 210 - T3rd
A-10, May 4-5 - (-8), 208 - T3rd
Linger Longer, May 13-14 - (-5), 211 - T6th
NCAA East, May 17-19 - (+4), 217 - T14th
NCAA Finals, May 30-June 2 - (+4), 284 - T35th