FSU MEN'S GOLF TEAM RANKED NATIONALLY IN 2003-04 COACHES POLL

Bulldogs Debut At 23rd In Precept Preseason Coaches Poll

The first 2003-04 Precept Division II Men's Golf Coaches Poll was released Wednesday (Sept. 10) and the Ferris State University men’s golf team is ranked 23rd nationally with 70 points in the poll, which was conducted and released by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

West Florida, which finished tied for sixth place at last season's NCAA Division II National Championships, received a first-place 282-point total to go with five first-place votes. Rollins (Fla.) is ranked second with four first-place votes and 274 points followed by California State-Bakersfield, which recorded 239 points and one first-place vote. Francis Marion (S.C.), last season's national champion, is listed in the fourth-place spot with a 226-point total while California State-Stanislaus rounds out the top five after garnering 219 points.

Ferris State was the lone Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC)-member school to be ranked among the top 25 teams in the poll. Fellow conference members Grand Valley State (48), Northwood (27), Findlay (21), Gannon (18) along with Ashland (eight) and Saginaw Valley State (eight) were among 43 teams nationwide who were among others receiving votes.

Only GCAA-member coaches are eligible to vote in the Precept Coaches poll and the next Division II Precept Coaches poll is scheduled to be released Wednesday, Oct. 1.

Ferris State, under fifth-year head coach Brad Bedortha, made its 11th NCAA-II Championship appearance in the program's history a season ago and placed 15th overall with a four-round 1,216-stroke total at the 41st annual NCAA-II Championships in Sunriver, Ore.

The Bulldogs open their 2003-04 season this weekend (Sept. 12-13), hosting the annual Ferris State Invitational at FSU's Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich. Starting time for both Friday's opening-round and Saturday's final-round play is set for 8:30 a.m. (EDT).