May 3, 2007

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - After a frustrating month of March, the Dayton Flyers are playing their best golf of the spring season heading into the 2007 Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Golf Championship.

The 29th annual event will take place this weekend, May 4-6, at the Orange County National Golf Course in Winter Garden, Fla. Last season the Flyers finished in eighth shooting rounds of 295, 300 and 290.

"Orange County is a great golf course and it sets up well for our players," said head coach Drew Tyrer. "We will stick to our simple game plan: stay in the present, target golf and have fun. If we focus on these three objectives, we will have a successful weekend."

Dayton has ridden its recent resurgence to post some of its best finishes of the spring season. The Flyers are coming off a third-place finish at the UD Spring Invitational two weeks ago with rounds of 320, 316 and 303 on the tough NCR Country Club South Course.

One of the Flyers to look for is sophomore Rob Chappell who led UD last year at the A-10 Championship after a two-under-par 70 in the final round. Chappell had a three-day total of 216 (73-73-70) to tie for 15th place and was named the 2006 A-10 Rookie of the Year.

Chappell, UD's two-time Most Valuable Player, is coming off his best performance of the spring season after shooting a 72 at the UD Spring Invitational. Chappell led the Flyers in stroke average at 74.09 in the fall and is second on the squad during the spring season at 79.6.

Another Flyer who is heading into the A-10 Championship with positive momentum is senior Sam Morton. Morton also shot a 72 at the UD Spring Invitational and finished tied for eighth. This season, Morton leads the Flyers with a 79.1 stroke average in 16 rounds of play.

As a team, the Flyers are averaging 319.25 strokes per round during the spring season.

A year ago, the Charlotte 49ers claimed their first A-10 title in their first season as a member of the conference with a three-stroke victory over the Xavier Musketeers. Joining Dayton, Charlotte and Xavier in the quest for the A-10 title are Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's, and Temple.

The Atlantic 10 Conference is one of the most competitive conferences in the country, sending five schools to NCAA Regional play in 2006.

Tee times for all three rounds of the Championship begin at 8 a.m. ET. For more information, go to the Atlantic 10's official website at Atlantic10.org

Notes: Senior John Zaller earned some distinguishing awards from the Business School Tuesday at the School of Business Administration Banquet. Zaller won the Award of Excellence for an Outstanding Senior majoring in Finance and the Dr. E.B. O'Leary Award of Excellence for an Outstanding Senior majoring in Economics...Zaller and Morton are the only two Flyers to have played in every round during the spring season...the five that will be playing in the A-10 Championship this weekend are Chappell, Morton, Zaller, freshman Kenny Wittenberg and sophomore Mitch Custenborder.