Aug. 28, 2009

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida State men's golf team will play in the inaugural GolfWeek Conference Challenge Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at the Blue Top Ridge Golf Course in Riverside, Iowa to begin the 2009 Fall season. The distinctively unique golf event kicks off the collegiate golf season and will pit Division I golf teams from across the nation in a 54 hole stroke-play format that will determine both a team and individual champion. The Seminoles, who finished the 2008-09 season ranked 29th nationally in the GolfWeek/Sagarin rankings, are the highest ranked team (utilizing the final 2008-09 rankings) in the 15-team field for the GolfWeek Conference Challenge.

THE INAUGURAL GOLFWEEK/CONFERENCE CHALLENGE
Florida State will represent the Atlantic Coast Conference as one of 15 teams that will play in the inaugural GolfWeek Conference Challenge. The Seminoles will be joined by Xavier (Atlantic 10), Baylor (Big 12), South Florida (Big East), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Iowa (Big 10), Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial), Memphis (Conference USA), Illinois State (Missouri Valley), California (Pac 10), Vanderbilt (SEC), Georgia Southern (Southern), Texas-Arlington (Southland), Middle Tennessee State (Sun Belt) and New Mexico State (Western Athletic) in the event.

FLORIDA STATE - A SHORT SYNOPSIS ON THE 2009-10 SEMINOLES
The Seminoles return five letter winners and four members of its starting line-up from last season's team that won the team title at the Florida State Spring Break Invitational and earned five top five team finishes. The Seminoles enter the 2009-10 fall and spring seasons with two seniors (Cameron Knight and Seath Lauer), one junior (Drew Kittleson) and one sophomore (Brooks Koepka) who played in the majority of the teams matches last year. Kittleson represented Florida State in both the Master's and US Open Championships in 2009.

TWO SEMINOLES EARN REGIONAL ALL-AMERICAN HONORS IN 2009
Florida State golfers Matt Savage and Drew Kittleson, who helped lead the Seminoles to the NCAA Southeast Regional championship tournament for the fourth consecutive spring, were named to the PING Southeast Regional All-America team. It marked the second consecutive season Savage had been named to the regional All-America team and the first honor for Kittleson.

FLORIDA STATE'S RECENT HISTORY IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Under head coach Trey Jones, Florida State has played in four consecutive NCAA Regional Championships - the first time the Seminoles have played in four consecutive NCAA tournaments since the 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 seasons. The Seminoles won the 2008 ACC Championship - the first ACC championship in the sport of golf in school history.

FLORIDA STATE MEN'S GOLF STATISTICS (FINAL 2008-09)
Name              Tourn.  Rds   Par   -75   Low   Strokes   Avg
Drew Kittleson    10      28    10    24    66    2,029     72.46
Brooks Koepka     11      31    10    23    65    2,250     72.58
Matt Savage       11      31    15    24    63    2,256     72.77
Cameron Knight    8       22    11    15    69    1,620     73.64
Nicholas Smith    2       5     1     4     68    370       74.00
Seath Lauer       10      28    5     19    70    2,092     74.71
Wesley Graham     5       14    2     5     68    1,079     77.07