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Saints get set to tee-off at National Championship May 16, 2005 Saint Martin's joined the nation's best Division II golf programs in Savannah, Georgia, yesterday as they prepare stake a claim on the national championship. Twenty teams and five individuals comprise the field for the 2005 NCAA DII Men's Golf Championships, including host Armstrong Atlantic. The prohibitive favorite is the defending champion South Carolina-Aiken Pacers, who earned their first title in 2004 after a decade of near misses. This season USC-Aiken has been the top ranked DII club, according to the GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches Poll, wire-to-wire in dominant fashion winning 10 of 12 tournaments. Saint Martin's makes their debut at the event and are led by the nation's top-ranked player, junior and 2004 All-American Shane Prante. Prante, along with Dane Burkhart and Scott Brown of USC-Aiken are considered the favorites for the individual championship. Eight of the top-ten DII golfers will be competing in Savannah. The par-71, 7,026-yard Club at Savannah Harbor course has been rated one of the top 100 of America's by Conde Nast Traveler and the Robert Cupp/Sam Snead-designed layout has been honored as Savannah's Golf Centerpiece by Golf Magazine and Golf Digest gave it a four-star rating for highly recommended places to play. Practice rounds began on Sunday, continue today, with the first of four rounds of play beginning tomorrow. Jordan Burns will be the first Saint to tee off, scheduled to do so at noon local time, followed in successive groups by Chris Westrum (12:10), Jared Bouchey (12:20), Kris Swanson (12:30) and finally Prante at 12:40.
Mark McGreevy, Sports Information Director
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